For the Good of the Team
by Indigo Tantarian
Summary: After the Spear Pillar incident, Saturn tries to hold together the remnants of Team Galactic while he searches for his lost teammates. But at the same time, he's being watched. And what does Professor Rowan have to do with it?
1. Chapter 1

Notes: So, I started out mostly just liking Saturn and the grunts (who I'm trying not to portray as all the same, but I think the grunt job description attracts a certain type of person), but Mars and even Jupiter are growing on me. And Cyrus intrigues me. I'm working on a theory involving possibly him and Professor Rowan, to explain at least some of what Saturn still doesn't know at the end.

I researched some astronomy for this. All the grunts and the scientist are named after Saturn's moons. It seemed appropriate.

I struggled with a title. This one at least seemed to cover it all. And I'm trying hard not to get back in the habit of page-long notes.

Pokemon, Lucas, Team Galactic, and its members belong to Nintendo.

...

**For the Good of the Team**

…

Two grunts trailed in Saturn's wake as he entered the TV room. One had followed him from the front reception area, and was trying to keep a clipboard with a stack of papers sticking out at odd angles, a poketch, a cell phone, and the daily newspaper from falling out of her arms. The other had quickly latched onto them on his way from the kitchenette. He was stirring hopefully at a bowl of lumpy brown gunk over rice.

Saturn frowned at the TV, stopping at the front row of seats. "Any word today?"

"Um…" The female grunt shifted her load, set it on a bench, and picked out a report from the top. "We've heard from two scientists and five grunts. I don't think they're coming back, though." She handed Saturn the report of names, locations, and brief status reports. He looked it over, nodding slightly. The two grunts could almost see his ears prick to the rise and fall of the TV reporter's voice at the same time. After a moment he handed the paper back.

"All right. Keep me posted. Especially if you hear anything about Cyrus, Jupiter, or Mars." His jaw clenched a bit.

"Of course." She took the paper and put it back with the others, trying to straighten them up a bit.

"Sir?" the male grunt cut in quietly, offering the steaming bowl. Saturn glanced over and took it with the barest of strained smiles.

"Thank you. How is it?"

"Oh it's getting much better," he assured the blue-haired man quickly, with an anxious grin. "It tastes almost like real curry now."

Saturn took a small bite, still watching the TV like a hawk, and nodded slightly. "You're right. Almost. Good job, Tethys." Tethys glowed at the compliment. Saturn continued to take a bite now and then, but he wasn't very interested in the dinner portion of their dinner break. Tethys and Rhea, the female grunt, went to finish off the rest of the curry after taking a few more glances back at their boss.

"I really worry about him sometimes," Rhea whispered to Tethys. Saturn was too wrapped up in the news report, and with glancing through the newspaper, to pay any attention.

The young leader of Team Galactic - or the Galactic Corporation, as they needed to start limiting themselves to calling it now - curled his lip in frustration. Just how many insignificant trainers needed to be shown charging around, finding rare candies, catching Bidoofs, and generally wasting time? And half of it was reruns. OLD reruns. There was one of that boy, Lucas, creeping around Galactic HQ to find a protein. From back, way back, before…

Saturn shook his head. Watching the news in hopes of hearing about his former teammates was probably useless. But he couldn't stop trying, looking, listening for all he was worth. He'd pretty much come to terms with the fact that Jupiter didn't want to be found. She would have come back, or at least found a way to contact him. Cyrus was clearly finished with Team Galactic as well. Why else would he leave it in the care of the member who obviously understood the least about it? Saturn suspected he was more likely to hear about either of them being thrown in jail before they walked back through the doors of the Veilstone Headquarters. And jail really wasn't likely for either of them. Mars, on the other hand…

Jail probably wasn't likely for her either. She could take care of herself.

Still, if she - any of them - were caught by the police or an angry mob intent on avenging their stolen Pokemon…

To be honest, if he were around, Saturn wasn't sure there was a thing he could do. He'd managed to convince the local police and just a big enough percentage of the Gym Leaders' Council of his change of heart. Of course they were watching him now. But he hadn't been at the Spear Pillar that day, hadn't even known about it until afterwards, and that hadn't been the only thing he had been - or still was - in the dark about. He'd sweated his way through a harrowing interrogation, and along with the very few remaining grunts and scientists he had returned hundreds of Pokemon to their seething, self-righteous owners, along with a personal apology for each one. It had been absolute hell. There was no other word for it. But it had gained him the social toehold he needed to avoid angry mobs showing up on the doorstep. But if one of they others were to show up and not be willing to do the same, he doubted he could convince a single person to leave them alone. Not that he wouldn't be trying.

Mars might be fine. She could handle herself. Except that sometimes he wasn't sure if she could. Just after a loss, usually. Not often.

But from everything he had heard, losses didn't come much bigger than the Spear Pillar incident. He left the room and went to drop the bowl in the sink.

"All right, that's it for today," the young man sighed. "I need to see Maylene, call the League, and… I need to just get out for a while." He looked at the two grunts, almost helplessly.

"Yes, sir," Rhea answered. She seemed to understand. He was glad she had stayed. Her powers of physical organization might still be in the early stages of development, but at least she was one of the more with-it grunts.

"Thanks. And make sure you get this room spotless. The health inspector's coming some time on Tuesday, apparently for the first time ever. We don't want the building condemned."

The two grunts saluted and set to work. Saturn gave them a final nod before heading for the warp panel. He stopped on the way out to make sure that Dione the receptionist and Mimas the scientist were cleaning and checking the building for safety. There was a catchy song playing on the radio, accompanied by Mimas's occasional complaints about the volume and Dione's blissful off-key humming. Saturn fled as quickly as he could.

As he stepped out, he thought he saw a familiar flash of red by the town's western security station. He craned his neck, eyes straining to catch it again, praying it was -

But all that was there were a couple of babbling trainers. One of them did have a red bow in her hair, that must have been it. He'd probably imagined that particular shade.

Saturn shook his head and sighed as he headed towards the gym.

… … … … … …

In the small building between Veilstone and the road, a young woman pulled a gray hood tighter over her red hair and leaned against the wall, waiting for her heartbeat to calm. He'd almost seen her. She'd been careless. Jupiter would be furious, if she heard. Cyrus would be… Well, he'd probably give her a calm talking-to. But at least she was doing her job. Her time in the Sinnoh media was paying off in reverse now. Saturn had no leads on any of them. No one had any reason to complain about her work. She hadn't failed anyone. Cyrus would probably praise her. She smiled a little.

…At least, he'd better praise her. She hated this. No one to talk to. Jupiter wasn't the most social person ever. Sometimes she listened to Mars, but just as often she left the room. Or told Mars to suck it up. And Cyrus always took her totally seriously, when he had time at all. And they'd let all the grunts go. Which made things monumentally boring. Mars fumed. If it wasn't for her Pokemon, she swore, she'd march right up to the Veilstone Headquarters and let Saturn know just what a fool he had been played for. She snuck a glance out the door, and thought she saw him enter the gym.

…Maybe she should just screw it and get over there anyway. She turned and looked out the door. Yeah. Just take her Purugly and go back there right now. Yeah! Then at least she'd have a complaining buddy again.

Mars took a hesitant step back towards the doorway. Then the cell phone in her pocket buzzed and vibrated against her hip. She jumped back a little, as if she'd been slapped. The young couple on the other side of the building paused their conversation to give her a strange look. She glared at them halfheartedly as she shrunk back into the corner, taking out the phone to look.

One new message from an unknown number.

"CYCLING ROAD UNDERPASS 5:16 PM"

She looked up at the towering Galactic Building and cursed under her breath. She had to suppress such thoughts. They would get her in trouble one day.

After sending a quick reply, she put the phone away and headed out to the meeting, trying to convince herself that she was on the right track.


	2. Chapter 2

Notes: If you're easily offended… try not to be. There's some language in the later part of this chapter. This is mainly a filler chapter but, expect another one some time soon (so if you hate cliffhangers, at least you won't suffer for long)! Hopefully explaining everything in a way that makes sense. Er… we'll see about that. You'll see a familiar face here if you've read my other Team Galactic fics. And what better name for a scientist sent to watch the Galaxy than the name of a telescope? Oh, how clever I am…

I feel like this isn't as well-written as it should be, especially towards the beginning. And it's longer than I had planned, but I think that's a good thing. Let me know your thoughts on… well, anything, really. I like comments!

Pokemon, Team Galactic, Saturn, Cyrus, Professor Rowan, etc. belong to Nintendo.

…

**For the Good of the Team - Part 2**

…

"Lucario, Mach Punch!"

"Toxicroak, Water Gun."

Saturn watched his Pokemon and his opponent's Lucario chip away at each other's health. The citizens of Veilstone, and the rest of Sinnoh, slept easier knowing that their gym leader was personally keeping an eye on the remnants of Team Galactic. What they didn't know was that it involved a lot of the two leaders watching each other awkwardly, unsure what to do. Maylene wasn't sure what she would do if Saturn returned to his old ways (aside from feeling pretty stupid in front of the other gym leaders and the elite four, all of whom she'd assured that Saturn was no threat). And Saturn had dealt gracefully with a lot of humiliation lately, but if his 'parole officer' had decided to rub it in his face, he wasn't sure he could have held his composure. All in all, it could have been much worse. It could have been Byron. Most of the time they ended up having a short battle. It was good practice for them both, and Saturn felt he owed it to his Pokemon, since they rarely had a chance to get out these days.

"Toxicroak, Protect!"

"Lucario, Aura Sphere! And keep it up until he can't protect himself anymore!"

Saturn smirked, having no intention of giving her Lucario such an opportunity, when his cell phone rang.

"Hold on, I should take this." The two Pokemon relaxed a bit and watched as he stepped back. "Okay… Really? … Where's he been? … All right, see if you can find his file, I'll be there in a few minutes to talk to him." He closed the phone and turned back to the battle. "Let's finish this. Toxic oak -!"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Dione was waiting with a thin file folder at the front desk when the commander walked through the sliding door. "They're in your office, sir."

"Thank you." Saturn took the folder, glancing through it as he walked. For once, they'd found a former grunt who wanted to come back to the team. This one had been with Mars for a few weeks before switching over to his squad for a short time, then transferring to Jupiter's. That wasn't uncommon, most of the grunts worked with each of the commanders. He didn't seem to have been very successful, but then towards the end, none of them had been.

As he stepped into his office, Rhea gave an easy salute. The young man in the chair caught sight of him and leapt to full attention. He was wearing a dirty white shirt over an old pair of Team Galactic uniform pants. His hair had been badly dyed brown. Behind him, Rhea flashed Saturn a slightly worried look.

"Sit down," Saturn said as he crossed the room to sit in the chair next to his desk and gestured to them both. Rhea carefully took the chair behind the desk, and the former grunt shot back down in his seat, catching the edge and correcting himself before he missed it.

"Kore, right?" Saturn asked, in an attempt to make the grunt more comfortable. The young man nodded stiffly. "You were employed by Team Galactic for about five months, correct?" Another nod. "Under Commander Mars, then myself, and finally Commander Jupiter?" Nod. "So what makes you want to come back now?"

Kore gulped and started fingering his shirt. He had almost worn a hole through it. "Well… I… It's the only thing I've really been good at, sir."

Saturn double-checked the file. "Even though most of your missions were failures, and Jupiter wrote a note here recommending that you never be given a Pokemon again?"

The grunt flinched and mumbled something incoherent, looking at his feet. Saturn tried a different approach.

"What have you been doing since we disbanded?"

"Um. I worked at the bike shop in Eterna City. The owner was really nice."

"But not nice enough for you to want to stay?"

"He… found another mechanic." Still no eye contact.

"Oh, you were a mechanic? We could really use someone good at fixing things around here."

"Ye-es…" Kore couldn't seem to take his eyes off a small stain on the tile where Tethys had spilled coffee yesterday.

"…But?" Saturn prompted.

"…But… Most of the bikes I fixed… fell apart. On the way… out the door…"

His eyes had closed tightly. Saturn shared a glance with Rhea.

"Well… I can tell you now that I won't turn down anyone who wants to join up again. We'll find a good use for you. But in case you haven't heard, our aims are different now. We're no longer stealing Pokemon or energy, or trying to capture any legendary Pokemon. We're still determining our goals for the future, but for the moment we're focusing on undoing the damage that's already been done and rebuilding. Are you still interested?"

The grunt stared at him. He paused long enough from wearing a hole in his shirt to nod cautiously.

"All right. Rhea can find you a uniform, and I'll give you an ultra ball, but you'll need to find your own Pokemon. Unless you already have one?"

"Um…"

"…Yes?"

"Before… uh… Commander Jupiter took a Pokemon from me when I failed a mission. It was one I caught, it wasn't stolen. But… She didn't leave it here, did she?"

"What was it? We have a few Pokemon down in the lab that no one's come forward to claim."

"A Clefairy…?" Kore's voice broke softly, obviously dreading the answer.

THAT was why this grunt looked familiar. The Clefairy guy. Saturn remembered the three of them laughing about the Clefairy incident for days, maybe even weeks. Now, coming face to face with this poor grunt who was throwing himself on Saturn's mercy, the commander felt faintly ashamed.

"Come with me," he said, standing up.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

As soon as they got to the lab, the Clefairy in the middle cage and the poor bedraggled grunt let out twin shrieks of joy and ran to each other, trying desperately to grasp each other through the bars. Saturn nodded to Mimas, and the irritated-looking scientist unlocked the cage. Human and Pokemon sobbed, clinging to each other as Saturn quietly explained the situation. He was signing a bit of paperwork on the Clefairy when he noticed the grunt's words coming clearer through his tears.

"I - I missed you so much, Clefairy! I thought about you every day! Are you okay? I'm so glad you're okay! Oh… When I saw Commander Jupiter the other day, I was so scared that she might still have you!"

Saturn jerked and spun back to face Kore. "Commander Jupiter? You said you saw Jupiter?"

The grunt jumped and nodded cautiously.

"Where? When was this? What was she doing?"

"Um… she… She was walking under the cycling road. Talking on the phone. It was… late last week. Maybe Thursday?"

Saturn had begun to pace furiously. "Did she see you?"

"No… she was busy-"

"How on earth did you hide from Jupiter? There aren't many people more observant than her!"

"I was… just trying to fix a bike chain up on the road. I was down by the railing, so… I was too low for her to see from under…"

Saturn's eyes had taken on a wild gleam. "Take your Clefairy, go upstairs, find a uniform." He turned and almost ran into Mimas, dodged to the side, and ran out of the lab, sending Rhea and Tethys a quick text message to meet him in the lobby. They were waiting there with Dione by the time he got there, looking curious.

"I'm going over to the cycling road. Tethys, you're coming. Bring your best Pokemon, a full HM team. And something that knows Flash. Dione, see if you can reschedule my appointments for… I don't know, the next few days. At least the rest of today. Rhea, I'm leaving you in command until I get back. I'll have my phone if there's an emergency. Oh, find something for Kore to do, he needs it."

"Sir? What's going on?" Rhea asked as Tethys slid over the desk to use the PC and switch out his Pokemon. Saturn took a deep breath, trying to settle himself.

"Kore said he saw Jupiter under the cycling road last week. I'm going to investigate. It might be nothing, but I have to check it out. I know I'm rushing off, and I know it's a bad idea. But I'm going." He stared at Rhea, daring her to voice any disagreement.

She nodded slowly, meeting his eyes. "Call if you need backup."

"Thanks." Saturn flashed her a smile as Tethys clambered back over the desk with a new team of Pokemon. "Okay, let's Fly."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The two touched down in Oreburgh and returned their Pokemon. There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary as they made their way north towards the small, quick-growing trees blocking their way from the area under the high road.

"Keep your eyes open," Saturn said softly, scanning the area. "Try not to be seen. If you notice anything… signal me." Tethys nodded and started off to the west while Saturn took the east side of the small canyon. They slipped silently closer and closer to the Wayward Cave. That was where Saturn expected to find something, if there was anything to find here. But what could Jupiter be doing here? Were the others around too? How would they react to seeing him again when they were obviously finished with him? Should he even be here? It would probably be better to just give up on them. But -

"I know you, you hooligan. You're with Team Galactic." A rough voice cut through Saturn's thoughts. He turned to find Tethys, back against the cliff, cornered by the famous Professor Rowan and a scientist who looked rather familiar. The Professor was jabbing at an outraged Tethys with his walking stick.

"Yeah, and we're in the middle of an investigation. So stay out of our way! Ow, quit it! What's with you?" Tethys took a threatening step forward, with typical grunt bravado, but was quickly forced to jump aside or risk a whack on the shin. Saturn cursed under his breath. So much for maintaining a low profile.

"Excuse me," he said smoothly, stepping up and putting a placating hand on Tethys's arm. "Forgive us if we disturbed you. I'm Commander Saturn, head of the Galactic Corporation."

"You mean Team Galactic." The old man fixed him with a piercing stare. "I remember you quite well."

"And you've no doubt heard about the disbanding of Team Galactic. I believe you were at the Spear Pillar for the incident, so you probably know even better than I do. I'm in charge of the remains of the Galactic Corporation. It's an… honor to meet you here, Professor."

Suddenly Tethys stepped forward again. "Sir, that's - !"

Rowan smiled a bit. "Oh, you recognize my aide? He did some good work for me while he was in your employ."

Saturn took a closer look at the scientist. "Wasn't it… Hubble? I thought you looked familiar."

The scientist grinned, pleased with himself. "I must say, it was a pleasure to have such astronomical funding and state-of-the-art equipment."

"I was sure Cyrus had a better screening process than that." Saturn frowned slightly. How was it possible that they'd had a mole in their ranks? Cyrus just didn't get that careless.

"He did," replied Rowan. "Now, you're not needed here. Go back to your little jobs, or you'll force us to battle you."

Tethys bristled with indignation. Saturn's frown deepened, and he gritted his teeth.

"I understand your feelings, but I think that's a bit harsh. What do you want, a personal apology? I'm truly sorry for all the trouble Team Galactic caused you and your colleagues. What can we do to make it up to you?" Saturn tried to keep his voice level and sincere. It took some effort. Tethys glowered behind him.

"I have no need for your useless apologies," the professor said dismissively. "Now please leave this place."

Saturn tried to swallow the ire rising up in him. "I'm sorry, but we can't do that."

"You leave us no choice." The older man tossed a poke ball, releasing a large Staraptor. His aide let out an Electrode.

Saturn clenched his teeth, almost hissing. "Fine. Bronzong!" The large, bell-like Pokemon shot out, ready to fight. Tethys's Skorupi joined it.

"Bronzong, Protect," Saturn commanded sharply. "We're not here to give you trouble. We're looking for a former associate." Electrode's Sonic Boom attack was deflected.

Rowan frowned. "You shouldn't be here at all," he said gruffly, as Staraptor performed a Wing Attack on Skorupi, which retaliated with a Poison Sting.

"We've got just as much right to be here as you do!" Tethys retorted as his Pokemon executed a Quick Attack against Electrode.

"I won't be reduced to arguing with your ignorance." Rowan's Staraptor finished off Skorupi with Close Combat, after taking a Confusion attack from Bronzong. "There is obviously much you don't understand."

"Care to enlighten us, then?" Saturn spat as Tethys sent out Beautifly. "I'd just love to know all the VITALLY important secrets being kept from me. Maybe you could start with telling me how being a Pokemon researcher gives you the deed to the whole Sinnoh region. I could call the police on you right now."

Rowan snorted derisively. "The police? They have better things to do with their time than answering the call of a pair of common thugs."

"Common - !" Rage blazed in Saturn's eyes. "Clearly you don't watch what little useful news there is! While you've been taking your leisurely strolls in hopes of finding innocent travelers to menace, we've been busting our asses to hold together a giant syndicate with FIVE PEOPLE! We've returned hundreds of Pokemon to their trainers, we've gone through every kind of interrogation, rehabilitation, and public humiliation you can imagine and then some, and we can't bat an eye without the gym leaders and elite four taking note! I report daily to the Veilstone gym leader, so if you think we're less than fucking EXEMPLARY citizens, you can damn well take it up with HER!!" He hurled another poke ball, releasing Toxicroak to replace the fainted Bronzong, red with fury. Tethys had stopped battling halfway through the tirade to stare in open-mouthed awe. Was this really the same the civil, polite, soft-spoken Commander Saturn who constantly reminded his subordinates that it was better to bend down and survive than to stand up and die? Hubble the scientist looked rather surprised himself. Rowan, however, was unruffled.

"Living under the thumb of a confused little girl, however skilled she may be at Pokemon battles, does not speak any more highly of you than if you were causing trouble on your own." Toxicroak, picking up on her trainer's blinding rage, viciously finished off Staraptor with a critical hit. Electrode self-destructed, knocking out Beautifly and taking a chunk out of Toxicroak's health.

"You'll have to take that up with the Gym Leaders' Council," Saturn spat coldly as Tethys released his Gyarados. "I'm sure they'll appreciate your evaluation of their members and decisions."

Rowan looked at his aide, then back to Saturn. "It doesn't concern me enough to bother them. You leave me no choice. Mes-!"

"Please, Professor. Don't make such rash decisions, you might regret them later. I'm sure this can be resolved without the use of such a last resort," a calm, flat voice echoed through the canyon.

Saturn's fury froze in his veins as he stared at the tall figure stepping out of the shadows. Tethys dropped his remaining poke balls as Cyrus walked into the dim light.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: This actually ended up being pretty Rowan-centric. Sorry. I'm not saying I think this is what was really going on, but you have to admit, their goals are eerily similar sometimes. Let me know what you think of his plan. I think it could work, I'm just not sure it's very likely. At some point as I was writing I liked this chapter a lot, but as I'm typing it, I don't think it's especially great… Better luck next time.

I played with Tethys's point of view, and I like it a lot up until the very end. But variety is good. Third-person omniscient just can't cut it all the time. And I can't write endings to save my life.

The next chapter will get more into the female commanders. I'm actually pondering a Jupiter-centric fic next. That kind of came out of left field. Or maybe something fun with Cyrus and the other team leaders. Or both.

I don't own Pokemon, Team Galactic, Professor Rowan, or anything else except the grunts/scientists with names that reference astronomy. I'm getting kind of attached to them.

…

**For the Good of the Team **

…

"C-Cyrus," Saturn stammered.

"Saturn. You seem to be succeeding in most of your attempts." Cyrus walked into the midst of the battle. "Please withdraw your Pokemon, I don't think you'll find them necessary."

Professor Rowan drew himself up with dignity and did so. Hubble stared, but slowly did the same. Tethys looked nervously at Saturn, who had reflexively raised his poke ball. Then he lowered it. Then he deliberately raised it again and quietly commanded his Toxicroak to return. The grunt followed suit and edged a small step closer to the blue-haired commander.

"Professor Rowan, am I correct in assuming that you have brought the Pokemon?" the tall man asked.

"I've made little actual progress with the equipment in my own lab, but I do have them," Rowan replied, drawing out three ultra balls.

"Then I hope this time our attempts can be successful." Cyrus ignored Saturn, Tethys, and Hubble's incoherent sputtering and walked over to examine the poke balls.

"What - What do you mean, THIS time?" Saturn finally managed to get out.

Cyrus spared the shorter man a quick glance. "I apologize, but this is not the place for a lengthy explanation.

Tethys watched his boss and The Boss. He had seen Saturn nearly at the top, then struck down, and finally clawing his way back up the ladder of power. He could almost see it physically in the other man's posture. With the reappearance of Cyrus, a defensive hunch had quickly settled over the commander's shoulders. It was almost like right after Cyrus had disappeared, which didn't make sense, with all the effort Saturn had been putting into finding The Boss and the other commanders again.

Saturn visibly steeled himself. "I… I need an explanation, s- Cyrus." This was, Tethys decided, the bravest man he'd ever seen in his life. "Are you… working with Professor Rowan? How long has this been going on? Are Mars and Jupiter still working for you? What are you planning?" His mouth clamped shut on dozens of other questions, eyes burning with betrayal.

"Mars and Jupiter are indisposed at the moment. Professor Rowan and I are collaborating on en evolution-based experiment," Cyrus replied.

"You're - working together?" Hubble exclaimed. "Then why did I need to infiltrate his labs for you?"

"We haven't always seen eye to eye." Rowan shrugged dismissively. "But he certainly has the resources, as you yourself pointed out."

"Yes, and Professor Rowan has the ingenuity and experience to realize our dream. Now, Professor, if you would?" Cyrus turned and gestured the older man towards the northwestern corner of the canyon, taking out a small explorer's kit. Rowan followed, as did Hubble after a brief moment of hesitation. Tethys looked at Saturn, who was looking overwhelmed.

"Sir?" he said softly. Saturn jumped a little and turned to him. "Are we going with them?"

Emotions raced across Saturn's face, faster than Tethys could identify them. "…Yes," he finally said. "But send Rhea a message before we go down."

Tethys took out his phone and quickly typed in, "FOUND CYRUS W/ ROWAN. GOING U.G. W/ THEM" and sent it as he entered the hole in the ground. Saturn was waiting for him. His hands were clenched in his pockets, but Tethys could see them trembling. "I told her what's happening. Um… Are you okay, sir?"

Saturn barked a short, humorless laugh. "I really couldn't say. Honestly, at this point, I doubt it."

Tethys fidgeted a bit as they trailed behind Cyrus and the scientists. "If it matters, sir, I think you're taking this pretty well. Considering… everything."

Saturn glanced sideways at Tethys. For a moment the grunt was afraid he'd crossed a line - or maybe pushed Saturn over one. Then the commander started to laugh softly He shook his head. "You're quite a flattering liar. I'm glad you came. Couldn't do it without you."

"Er… I'm pretty sure I've been almost completely useless, actually," Tethys muttered.

"Oh no. Not at all. If I didn't have someone to posture in front of, I'd have turned back by now." Saturn hadn't stopped laughing. It was tinged with madness, but he looked a bit more relaxed. "Come on, let's not get left behind." The two quickened their pace to catch up with the other three. They twisted and turned, past traps buried in the floor, past bulges in the wall, past explorers, miners, and hikers. Some of the sphere traders at the crossroads looked so pale, they might have been albinos… or they might not have seen the sun in a few too many decades.

Hubble cast the two Galactic members a suspicious glance over his shoulder. Cyrus and Rowan were ignoring them. "If your boss does anything to Professor Rowan, you'll be sorry," he muttered.

Saturn clenched his teeth. "He's not our boss anymore. We obviously have less to do with him than you do now."

"I didn't know anything about this!" the scientist hissed defensively.

"Well that makes three of us."

They walked in silence for a while. "Wish I'd thought to bring a map of the Underground," Saturn muttered to Tethys.

"Oh, we're probably around Fuego Ironworks now, sir," the grunt said with a shrug. "Maybe even Floarama Town."

Saturn's eyebrows rose as he regarded the younger man. "Are you sure?

"Pretty sure, yeah."

"That's quite the sense of direction you've got there. I would have said we were lost."

Tethys smiled a little. "I guess everybody has to have a talent, sir."

"Obviously," Saturn murmured as they stopped before a section of wall that looked about like any other part of the tunnel. Cyrus placed a small drill bit in a crack and turned it gently. The wall opened, revealing a dimly-lit sequence of rooms. Rowan stepped through, followed closely by his uncertain-looking aide. Cyrus paused to give Saturn a level warning glance before following. The commander paused, but the door remained open, so he and his grunt cautiously trailed after them.

The main chamber was vast and open, with a large desk and a few machines along the walls. There was an alcove in the back with a spiral staircase leading deeper into the earth. The room below was brightly-lit. The other rooms on the sides seemed mainly for storage.

"Please explain this latest theory to me, Professor," Cyrus said, taking up a patient stance beside the desk. Rowan coughed slightly and spread out some papers. Saturn hastened closer to see, and Tethys followed.

"As you know, much of my research is based on Pokemon evolution. Ninety percent of all Pokemon evolve at least once. This has been proven to be part of a Pokemon's natural maturation process, as can be clearly seen in a Pokemon such as Magmar. As a Magby, it has many infantile characteristics. As it grows and evolved, a Magmar is clearly more highly developed, stronger, and generally more independent, as any adolescent or young adult creature. In the end, Magmortar's body and mind are fully developed as an adult. Evolution comes about either through experience in battle, through especially strong emotions in times of need, or through exposure to various stimuli."

Cyrus continued to watch, as did Hubble. Saturn was nodding very gradually. Tethys, not wanting to appear slow, quickly nodded as well. The professor cleared his throat and continued.

"This makes perfect sense for the ninety percent of Pokemon species that evolve. But where does it leave the ten percent that do not? There are, in fact, a number of theories about this oddity. For quite some time, I was of the opinion that the non-evolutionary Pokemon differed genetically allowing them to grow more gradually without any drastic changes in appearance or ability. However, after extensive testing on a variety of species, I have found this to be false. My current hypothesis, which I believe can be proven beyond any doubt with the help of your technology, is that any Pokemon can and will evolve if exposed to the right stimulus. If we return to our subject, the Magmar, this explains why researchers in the Kanto region generally only see its adolescent stage, while in Johto the Magby was discovered, and here in Sinnoh we have formulated the proper stimulus to induce evolution into Magmortar."

Tethys nudged Saturn urgently. "…Stimulus?" he mouthed.

"Something that causes change," the blue-haired man whispered under his breath. The grunt's face lit up in understanding.

"And this hypothesis applies to the so-called 'legendary' Pokemon as well?" Cyrus asked, casting a disapproving glance at Tethys, who turned crimson in shame.

"There is no reason why it should not, though of course their particular stimuli would be far more… unique than, for instance, the common fire stone. Most of the legendary Pokemon are so called because they are the last members of near-extinct ancient species. They cannot be bred in captivity, and most of them appear to be genderless. We can only imagine the magnificence of such creatures in their hey-day, but much of what we know about them is derived only from legends and stories that have been passed down through the generations." He shook his head. "Forgive me, I was side-tracked. In short, it is nearly impossible to find a way to evolve such creatures in the present day. But I believe that in the particular case that concerns us, I've hit on something."

Cyrus carefully set the three poke balls back on the desk. "And what would that be?"

"It's the simplest method imaginable, quite similar to the evolution of Magnemite to Magneton. Once a Magnemite reaches a certain level of experience, it draws in two other Magnemite, and the three fuse to form Magneton. I believe something similar may be possible with the three Mirage Pokemon of the lakes, and let me explain why. Evolution not only allows Pokemon to mature, it also makes them fully complete beings. As you know, the Mirage Pokemon are individually known as the beings of Emotion, Intelligence, and Willpower. None of these can be complete on its own. Imagine lacking intelligence and willpower; possessed of only emotion. Or even a creature, for instance, with well-developed intelligence and willpower, but no emotion at all. It should not be able to survive in such a state for long."

Cyrus regarded the older man levelly for a long moment. "While I cannot agree with that statement, Professor, I believe your meaning is clear."

Tethys looked desperately at Saturn.

"They… have to be combined to evolve and be complete?" Saturn offered hesitantly, trying to keep it all straight in his mind. Scientific theory wasn't one of his strong points.

Rowan and Cyrus stared at the two young men. Saturn and Tethys shrank back a bit, though Saturn quickly straightened up again.

"Correct," Professor Rowan said dryly. "A similar experiment was attempted mechanically on the three legendary birds of the Kanto region. Unfortunately, the success was only temporary due to the unnatural fusion process. But we should have more success, thanks to the work you did to make the Red Chain." He took a small sealed bag containing a scarlet sliver and some dust of the same color out of the pocket of his lab coat.

"Good. Let us move on to the lab now. Please bring all of this." Cyrus took the poke balls, Rowan picked up the papers, and they headed for the stairs. Hubble trailed after them, muttering to himself and shaking his head.

"Did you catch all that?" Saturn asked tensely as he and Tethys followed behind the others.

"Yes… I think so…" Tethys replied uncertainly. "Thanks for… um… translating."

Saturn smiled grimly. "I spent some time at the lab in Eterna when I was a grunt. I picked up some terms, at least."

They stepped down into the brightly-lit laboratory. Machines beeped and flashed, tanks of liquid bubbled. The florescent light in the corner flickered slightly over a purple-haired woman who was entering data into a computer. Her head shifted slightly and her typing paused for a second, but she didn't seem to be paying attention. A shorter redhead was checking various monitors and wired around a large glass cylinder in the middle of the floor. She glanced at them furtively, then did a double-take when she saw Saturn.

"Is everything ready?" Cyrus asked, ignoring Commander Mars's gaping stare. Jupiter stood and walked over to stand beside her. She elbowed the shorter woman, who quickly regained her composure.

"Yes, sir." Mars watched Saturn cautiously. Jupiter's gaze flickered between him and Cyrus, though her face betrayed no emotion. Tethys saw the male commander sway almost imperceptibly, his eyes clouding over. Then his head snapped up and he looked straight into the eyes of his former coworkers. It reminded the grunt somehow of Cyrus, more than Commander Saturn now or before ever had.

"Mars. Jupiter." His voice sounded even as he took a step forward, and confident enough, but… strange. Tethys edged a little closer to keep a good eye on the commander. He opened his mouth again, then shut it, contenting himself with a nod.

"Saturn." Jupiter returned his nod briskly. Her eye twitched slightly. Mars did the same, a bit more slowly.

"Mars," Cyrus cut in sharply. "Put the poke balls in place, but leave them locked. Then assist Jupiter analyzing the remains of the red chain with the evolution allele and cross-checking any potential matches with the genetic signature of the contents of the poke balls."

The two women quickly began their work. Professor Rowan strode around the room, making notes and adjustments as he went. Hubble followed him like a lost dog. Cyrus, Saturn, and Tethys remained near the stairs, watching. Tethys looked at Saturn now and then, but was ignored. At this point he had no idea what was going on. Commander Saturn seemed to have either gained some sort of odd sense of the equality with Cyrus he'd been grasping for before, or he'd quietly snapped and would fall to the floor twitching at any minute. He hoped for the former, but suspected a combination of the two, possibly with an unfortunate emphasis on the latter. No one else in the room seemed like they could be counted on as allies to either of the them. He'd checked before, in the tunnels, and he didn't get any phone service down here. Half of his Pokemon were out of commission.

He and Saturn were drastically outnumbered. And he was starting to doubt whether or not he could count on any help from Saturn if things went bad.

Or worse.

Worse seemed likely.


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: I should tell you that this is not entirely the way I intended this chapter to go. It just kind of happened. Not to say that I'm not happy with it, because I am. I'm REALLY not trying to give Saturn such a hard time. I did the best I could after what happened halfway through. He'll survive. But I'm not sure the ending will be as nice for him as I'd originally planned. I think the next chapter will be the last one, but then I say that in every chapter. Really this time. I have an idea for it. You'll see. And I did mean for this to be completely from either Jupiter or Mars's point of view, but halfway through I decided there was no way I could do what I needed to do with that.

If this doesn't fulfill your need for drama, I just don't know what to tell you. And I think I underestimated how hard it is to write a person without emotions who's still incredibly charismatic. Let me know what you think of Cyrus. And everything else!

Everything in here belongs to Nintendo. Except Tethys, he's mine. And I suppose the general theory of Cyrus's continuing plot.

…

**For the Good of the Team - 4**

…

"You should turn that off," Commander Jupiter said, leaning over the back of the computer chair Mars was lounging in. "I just heard them come in."

"It's almost over," Mars said, her eyes glued to the small TV next to the computer, which was showing a contest in Hearthome. "Anyway, your favorite's up next."

Jupiter said nothing, but became a bit more attentive as Professor Rowan's young assistant waved to the crowd and hugged her Clefairy. Her scores ran across the bottom of the screen, and she leapt into the air joyfully. The announcer's voice came on.

"That's another win for Dawn. Can anyone stop her? She's been sweeping the Masters class, but is she strong enough to stand up to the Master herself? Stay tuned for the final match: Dawn versus Fantina, after a word from our sponsors, here on Jubilife TV!"

Mars grinned up at Jupiter as an advertisement for natural Pokemon remedies came on. "What do you think?"

"The child is just an amateur," Jupiter scoffed. "No match for Fantina."

"I don't know, she's doing pretty well this time," Mars replied. "She hasn't had any trouble so far, anyway."

"We should double-check everything before the boss gets down here," the taller woman said abruptly, straightening up. She could hear Professor Rowan talking upstairs. "Move."

Mars pouted a little but jumped up, grabbed a clipboard, and started making her way around the glass tube in the center of the room, pressing buttons and making short notes. "You just don't want anybody to beat your favorite."

"I haven't seen any contestant who deserves to," Jupiter said icily. "Certainly not this one. She expects to win relying on her Clefairy's Metronome? It's a gamble that will cost her a loss soon, just wait."

Mars sighed dramatically. "That's what makes it INTERESTING, duh. You know she'll lose, but you don't know when or how." The contest came back on, and she walked back to the chair, resting her chin on her arms on its back. Jupiter leaned forward and turned up the volume a little. On the tiny screen, the Hearthome gym leader swept onto the stage and gave a regal wave to the roaring crowd.

"Too bad we couldn't go," Mars commented as the two contestants greeted each other. Jupiter nodded. "I bet they're selling loads of promos for this, though. We could probably find some later." Another nod. Mars looked down and smirked. "You might even be able to find one of those autographed photos. You know "To my number one fan, love Fantina." The kind they make a million of. Sealed with a kiss."

Jupiter's eyes narrowed as she glanced up at the red-haired commander. "I could send you up to tell Cyrus that we're ready."

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that," Mars whined. "You know I'm just playing around. I want to see what happens too."

"Then try to behave yourself," Jupiter retorted. The two lapsed into silence as they watched the extravagant displays of beauty, grace, and skill. Jupiter was admiring Fantina's Mismagius's floating elegance when a different voice reached her ears. She knew Cyrus and Rowan were here, but this was a younger man. She couldn't make out the words, but it sounded like… Saturn. She stiffened, straining to pick up more. But she only heard Cyrus heading for the stairs.

"I could probably do your hair like that if I practiced," Mars mused. Jupiter quickly turned off the TV and gestured sharply at Mars to get away.

"They're coming down. Get busy." She began entering the most up-to-date data into a spreadsheet while Mars jumped to observe the equipment around the glass case again. Jupiter watched the reflections of Cyrus and Rowan make their way down the stairs in the computer monitor. They were followed by a suspicious-looking scientist, and then by -

It was Saturn and some grunt. Jupiter's fingers paused over the keys as she tried to get a better look without turning around. Mars made a stifled sound of shock, clearly spotting their old coworker as well.

"Is everything ready?" Cyrus asked.

"Yes, sir." Jupiter and Mars turned to face him, and took the chance to get a better look at the group. Cyrus seemed unperturbed as usual, Rowan looked excited, that scientist was trying not to look at them… He shouldn't. Jupiter remembered him. The grunt looked scared.

Saturn looked sick. He seemed like he'd lost weight and might soon lose his lunch. Then he looked at them and his eyes changed. He stepped forward.

"Mars. Jupiter." He looked like he wanted to say more, but just gave them a brief nod of acknowledgement.

"Saturn." She returned his nod, making sure Mars didn't try to say something she'd regret. She didn't. She'd been struggling with their new place in the world more than Jupiter thought was good for her, and the last thing they needed was to start something with Saturn. She wouldn't have thought it of him before, but the male commander looked ready to challenge either of them, maybe even Cyrus himself, at the slightest provocation. He looked… He actually looked like Mars did when Jupiter was playing the seniority card against her. Only more-so. Like he really meant it. How strange. But he still startled just a little when Cyrus gave them their orders, like he thought he should be following them too.

While Mars placed the poke balls in their positions and hooked up various wires, Jupiter dropped the sliver of the Red Chain in a tiny electrical chamber and started up the analysis and comparison programs on the computer. Cyrus and Rowan hovered near one of the monitors in front of the glass cylinder, the other scientist fidgeting around behind them. Saturn still stood near the staircase, eyes blazing with - defiance was the only word Jupiter could come up with, but that wasn't quite it. The grunt kept looking around at them and then back at Saturn. He looked frightened.

Frightened? Why should a loyal grunt be frightened? Saturn had never seemed the type to turn abusive towards the grunts, but with that look in his eye, it was anybody's guess.

Mars came to join Jupiter after a moment, casting frequent glances in Saturn's direction. She pulled her chair up a little closer to Jupiter than was strictly necessary. After a moment the blue-haired man strode over to stand behind them, the grunt close on his heels. Both women stiffened a bit.

"So. Been here the whole time, have you?" Saturn's voice was like ice. Cracked ice.

"Yes," Jupiter responded shortly. Mars's eyes flicked to her.

"And Mars. I really thought I might have seen you in Veilstone a while ago." Crack. "But you disappeared. Why didn't you come say hello, Commander Mars?"

The women shared another glance. Jupiter could see the grunt gaping at Saturn in the monitor. She didn't blame him. That voice. She suppressed a shiver. Mars didn't quite manage to overcome hers.

"I couldn't." Mars spoke quietly, pleadingly. "You know if the boss told us not to contact you, we couldn't. I would have if I could. You should know that."

"I know. I know. Commander Mars, always following orders. It's a good excuse. Keeps you alive, right" Saturn laughed wildly, attracting glares from Cyrus and Rowan. "I know, Mars. I know all about it."

"Saturn," Jupiter cut sharply through his babbling. "There's no need for that."

Crazed eyes rested on her. "And Jupiter. A grunt saw you, you know THAT? You know which one? The Clefairy guy. Remember him? Remember, Commander Jupiter? You should remember. I do."

"You're making a fool of yourself," Jupiter hissed. "Shut up."

His hand lashed out faster than she could register movement. He was suddenly clutching her throat. Cyrus and Rowan turned. Mars stifled a scream and jumped back. So did the grunt. Then they both surged forward again simultaneously. Tethys grabbed Saturn's shoulder and pulled, Mars grabbed his wrist and sank her nails in."

"No! Sir, stop!"

"Let go of her NOW!"

Saturn froze and let go of Jupiter's neck as he staggered backwards. Mars's nails raked over his hand as she let go, stepping furiously between the other two commanders. Jupiter stared over her friend's shoulder at him and massaged her neck. His mouth moved, eyes full of horror, until his back hit the wall. He crumpled, his descent slowed a bit by the grunt, who hovered between a protective and defensive posture over him.

"Jupiter, I trust you're unharmed?" Cyrus's voice cut smoothly through the horrible silence.

"Fine. I'm fine." She continued to watch Saturn through narrowed eyes. He appeared to have passed out. The grunt was frantically trying to rouse him, and having no luck.

"Then please resume your work, commanders. It appears the threat has passed." Cyrus turned. "Hubble, was it? Would you be so good as to keep an eye on these two for me? They should be no more trouble, but I'm afraid I have no one else to spare."

The scientist looked rather put out, but he took a few cautious steps closer to the two men huddled on the ground.

"Thank you." Cyrus stepped up behind Jupiter to examine the computer screen before rejoining Rowan, who shook his head and made a comment about the instability of youth.

Mars's eyes darted from the screen to Jupiter. "Are you really okay?" she asked softly.

"I'm fine," she said tersely, then saw Mars's concern and relented a bit. "It hurt, but I doubt he was thinking of doing more than that. It might leave a bruise, no more."

"He'll pay for that," Mars muttered darkly. "Just wait, he'll be sorry."

Jupiter said nothing. She wasn't sure what to think. Saturn obviously had more problems than she'd expected. She stole a glance back at him and the solicitous grunt. The blue haired man had opened his eyes and raised his head groggily. Their eyes met, and he fainted again. Definitely something off.

"We'll certainly do something," she answered quietly, watching the data comparison through narrowed eyes.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

About half an hour passed. Saturn had come to again. He had drawn his knees up to his chest and buried his head in his hands. Tethys crouched over him, speaking softly but urgently. Now and then Saturn would nod or shake his head. Sometimes it was hard to tell, he was trembling so violently. Hubble glanced at them occasionally, but he was more interested in getting a better view of the main computer monitor.

Cyrus watched his employees, present and past, and reluctantly excused himself from Professor Rowan's presence to step up to Saturn. The grunt turned to face him, putting a protective hand on Saturn's shoulder. He radiated terror.

"You've seen what happens when you allow your emotions get the better of you," the boss said to him, gesturing towards the suddenly still commander. "I would advise you to calm yourself."

Tethys gulped, and before he knew it, Saturn was on his feet. He quickly did the same.

"Are you finished with your outburst, Saturn?" the tall man asked levelly.

"I - I'm so sorry," Saturn choked. "I don't know what I - I wasn't even thinking. I never meant -" He looked pleadingly at Jupiter, who pointedly ignored him.

"Clearly," Cyrus cut him off, reclaiming his eye contact. "You have been letting your feelings control you for far too long. I really thought you could handle yourself better, at least in the presence of other. I must confess my disappointment, Saturn."

Saturn tried and failed to look down. His miserable humiliation seemed to flow through his eyes into Cyrus's, where it died. He mumbled another apology. Tethys stepped a little closer.

"You know very well that apologies can do nothing to change what has been done," Cyrus said calmly. "We can only look forward now, beyond the past, beyond the mundane, towards the new world we shall create."

Saturn shook his head. "But… I'm no longer part of your new world. You left, you left me the remains of the team and came here I guess, and I still don't understand why."

A rare look, almost of pity, crossed Cyrus's face. "No, you do not.. That was essential to my plans as well."

"What?" All eyes were on Cyrus now, though Jupiter and Mars remembered to look back at the computer screen now and then.

Cyrus smiled emotionlessly, but it seemed somehow comforting. "After the Spear Pillar, do you think the old Team Galactic could exist? Of course not. It would have been illogical, and society would never have allowed it. But to leave one member there, accustomed to the inner workings of the team but ignorant of most of its plans, who could build up a good rapport with the community, enough to keep things running and retain our resources legitimately… You have been an integral member of the team through it all, Saturn. I know you have been searching and trying to contact us. Do you see now why I could not allow that? But since we are on the brink of a bright future in our new world, it is only fitting that you rejoin us now."

Jupiter and Mars looked doubtful about the last statement. Saturn seemed to collect himself a bit as Cyrus spoke, despite his surprise. The Boss's voice often had that effect on people.

"But then… how did you know I'd be here today?" Saturn asked hesitantly. "I just got lucky, we found a grunt who'd seen Jupiter under the cycling road."

Jupiter snorted and rolled her eyes. Cyrus nodded to her. "You see? All things have a purpose, Jupiter."

Saturn's eyes betrayed his sinking heart. "So… I really have been just a pawn in this. Haven't I."

"Oh no." Cyrus shook his head. "Not at all. You have been a knight, not a pawn. Your moves are less straightforward than the other pieces, but they are vital to my plans all the same."

They looked at each other silently for a moment. Then Tethys spoke up. "Then… who's the queen?"

Cyrus looked at him as if the grunt had just popped into existence. He smiled. "That would be the glorious Pokemon we shall evolve." The boss turned to Saturn, still smiling, and extended his hand. "So, are you ready to be an active member of my team again?"

Saturn took a step back, stepping on Tethys's toe. He quickly moved aside. "I… I need to think it over," he mumbled.

"Of course. Take all the time you need, Commander." Cyrus gave him a courteous nod and took a large step back to give him space.

Saturn looked over at Tethys and jerked his head to the side. They edged into a corner.

"What do you think of all this?" he asked quietly, his eyes flicking to Cyrus. The older man looked steadily back at him.

"I'm… probably not the best one to ask, sir," the grunt responded, glancing around the room. "You'd want to ask Rhea, at least." Saturn sighed and shut his eyes for a moment, trying to recapture the calm Cyrus had instilled in him.

"Don't. It's just you and me. We're thinking of the others, and making decisions for them, but they're not here. Just us. So I need your opinions. They really do matter. Now especially. Please. I tried doing this on my own, you saw how well that worked out. I don't know what to do. I need your help."

"Well… all right. You know I'll help." The grunt paused a minute, trying to think of what he could say without crossing any lines he wasn't prepared to cross. "Well… If it matters, you're the one we follow now, not… him."

Saturn's eyes began to look deranged again. "Tethys, don't put this all on me, I can't - !"

"No! No, that's not what I meant," the younger man said quickly. "I mean we don't need any other boss but you, and at this point if you want to go back to him again, that's fine, but we'll still take orders and look out for you in the end."

Saturn frowned and nodded slowly. "Anything else?"

"Um. I hope you know that , because I think if you do join Cyrus again, not everyone here might be as… friendly." He cast a nervous glance towards Mars and Jupiter. Saturn covered his face with his hand.

"Oh Arceus, I know it. And after today, I think I'd have to agree with them."

"You were… uh… well…"

"Completely out of my mind? I know."

"But you're better now," Tethys added hurriedly. "So it won't happen again."

Saturn looked deep into his grunt's eyes. "How can you be so sure?"

"I know you wouldn't -"

"I knew I wouldn't, too. I knew I would never do a thing like that, especially to someone I considered a friend. No matter what she did. I knew, Tethys, and I was wrong. So how can YOU be so sure?"

Tethys looked at him for a moment, saw how fast he was breathing, saw the sweat starting to glisten behind his bangs. "Because you know, you know all that. And… And you're scared of it, but you're fighting it back. And I've seen you up against just about the whole Sinnoh region now. And maybe you don't always win, but…" The grunt stopped and reddened a bit. "Er. I… forgot what I was saying. Sorry. But I trust you. And the others do too."

Saturn watched him with an almost blank stare. Then he gave some combination of a grunt and a laugh. "Okay. I think it's a bad idea, but you seem convinced. And if you trust me so much, the least I can do is trust you. Let's hope we don't regret it."

Tethys grinned. "Nah. So do you know what you're going to do?"

"Not… quite, no," Saturn said slowly. "I think I have some idea, but I want to see how things play out here first." He took a deep breath and straightened up, looking more like he had in the morning. "Thank you. I owe you for all of this."

"Oh no, don't worry about it, I'm just -"

"I know, but thanks anyway. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to keep an eye on me while we're here. If I start getting… strange again, poke me or something. Hard."

"I will, sir," Tethys said, nodding fervently.

"Sir!" Mars exclaimed. "We found a match!"


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: The first part of this is by far my least-favorite. I was going to split it in half, but I decided not to. I kind of like the massive meltdown I was building up to, and I guess it's a letdown to get past it. But it wouldn't do much good to hover over it. I also did one of the things I try to avoid. I created a god-like Pokemon. But it's just a plot device, so don't be mad. And I do kind of like it. Don't ask me how the computer came up with such a ridiculous evolution method. Team Galactic's got crazy technology. I tried to make it a little symbolic, but I think it may just come off as dumb. And I don't actually know anything about electricity, or about mood-altering drugs.

If Cyrus seems a little off, that's mostly intentional. Also, I don't know what to do with him at the halfway point in the chapter.

Pokemon, Team Galactic, and its members belong to Nintendo. Not to me.

…

**For the Good of the Team - 5**

…

Cyrus was behind Mars in an instant. "What is it?"

"It's an Odd Keystone along with a Dawn, Shiny, and Dusk Stone. And…" She made a few more keystrokes. "It looks like it's also a friendship evolution, but we can simulate that with the right electrical currents." Cyrus quickly went over to a set of drawers and sifted through for the right stones. He seemed to have quite a collection. Professor Rowan took an Odd Keystone from his pocket and handed it to Cyrus.

"Mespirit should hold the Shiny Stone, Azelf should have the Dusk Stone, and Uxie gets the Dawn Stone. They need to be in an equilateral triangle with the Odd Keystone directly in the middle. Then just feed them all a Rare Candy at the same time and we should be in business!" She spun her chair around to give Cyrus a satisfied grin.

"Excellent." She glowed in his praise. "Let's set up the current so we can get on with it."

Jupiter, Mars, and Cyrus moved to the machines surrounding the glass tube. They pressed buttons, pulled levers, and adjusted power levels.

"I've got twenty-three," Jupiter noted. "We'll need them all at twenty-five point three four."

"Twenty-six point eight," Cyrus said. Rowan and Hubble watched closely.

"Twenty point two," added Mars.

Saturn stepped up to get a better look as they worked to synchronize their readings, with Tethys at his side.

"What does electricity have to do with a friendship evolution?" the grunt asked, mystified.

"The brain's basically a collection of chemicals and electricity," Saturn said. "Or… something like that. I've heard, anyway. It's a lot safer to do with drugs and chemicals, but it's possible to change someone's mood, even their whole personality, with a jolt of electricity. But if it's done wrong, it can give you severe brain damage."

Tethys's eyes widened. "Then why are they doing it like this? They don't want to kill the Pokemon!"

"No… but it's faster this way. All three need to get it at the same time, and chemicals are slow and work at the body's own pace. Besides, I'm guessing they've run enough tests that they've got it down to an exact science. I don't think Cyrus would compromise their safety for anything." Saturn frowned at the trio of humans and the trio of Pokemon.

"Twenty-five point three four," Jupiter said crisply, throwing a switch.

"Me too!" Mars threw her switch.

"Good." Cyrus threw the final switch. "Are we prepared?"

"Yes," the two women affirmed.

"Then release them." Cyrus's hand hovered over a yellow button. Jupiter turned to pull out a knob, and the three Pokemon of the lakes burst forth. Without giving them time to react, Cyrus slammed down on his button. Waves of electricity coursed through the tube. The entire room flashed. The Pokemon cried out in surprise and lashed their tails wildly before dropping to the ground. They lay there twitching, with expressions of euphoria clutching their small faces.

"Good. Turn it off," Cyrus said quietly. "And then raise the containment system." Jupiter cut the power and Mars pulled a lever to open the glass cylinder.

The boss turned to Saturn. "Would you assist in placing the stones?"

Saturn hesitated. Tethys touched his elbow after a moment, just to be safe. The older man glanced back and gave him a short nod.

"All right," he said quietly. He picked up the three smooth stones and turned slowly to the other two. Mars snatched the Dawn Stone, and Jupiter plucked the Dusk Stone from his hand. The three looked at each other as they moved to the Pokemon. Saturn carefully positioned Mespirit while Mars and Jupiter did the same with Uxie and Azelf. Cyrus was meticulously measuring distances and giving more specific instructions. The writhing legendary Pokemon seemed in no mood to rob anyone of emotions, memories, movement, or anything else.

"All right," Cyrus finally said. The commanders glanced at each other before placing the stones on the small Pokemons' chests. Cyrus carefully set the Odd Keystone directly in the middle, and stood back while the others each took a Rare Candy and placed it in their Pokemon's mouth. They looked up again, and Cyrus nodded. The three gave the Pokemon a small rub on the throat, then stepped back as well. Jupiter closed the tube again, and she and Mars took up their positions and looked to Cyrus again. He smiled and gestured for Saturn to take the third spot. He watched the blue-haired commander closely as his eyes darted around the room. Then Saturn stepped slowly, almost reluctantly, up to the machine. He looked across the tube at Jupiter and Mars. They returned his gaze steadily, with a hint of suspicion. He felt a light touch on his back, and straightened up a bit.

"I'm ready," he said quietly.

"All right," said Jupiter. Their hands went to their buttons. Simultaneously, they pressed down. A low-voltage wave of electricity coursed through the cylinder once more, and the Mirage Pokemon shivered in what appeared to be pleasure. They gasped. The swallowed.

The lab was perfectly still. Everyone held their breath.

"Did it work?" breathed Mars.

And the Odd Keystone began to glow with the three evolutionary stones.

The Lake Pokemon produced identical shrieks as they rose limply into the air and began to glow as well. Their tails waved, slowly at first, but as they quickened a hum filled the air. It gained intensity until all the humans covered their ears in pain. Cyrus gestured wildly at Mars, who frantically pushed a sequence of flashing buttons. The Pokemon drew together, each wrapping one tail around the tail of the one beside it. Their chests bumped the Odd Keystone. The power flickered. Their heads whipped back so far, they turned upside-down. The room shook. A flash of light blinded everyone, leaving the searing image of a three-tailed, three-eyed creature with feathery crests on the sides of its head burning into their retinas as the glass broke and sparks rained down.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The creature's glowing slowly faded into a pale tan color. Each eye blinked in turn. It made a sound pitched too high for human ears to register, and surveyed the room. Its eyes alighted on Cyrus, and it slowly floated over to him, its large head tilting as it neared his face.

_So, human, did you get what you wanted?_ The voice seared through Cyrus's brain and echoed out to the others.

The tall man found his voice. "What are you?"

It floated in a slow circle around him. _I? I am the being of balance. I am Weity. Are you pleased, Cyrus-the-Sun? Get what you meant to?_

Cyrus shook his head slowly. "I need your power. You destroyed the machine I was using to collect it.

The creature's eyes rotated. _My power, Cyrus-the-Sun? Is that all? What will you do with my power?_

"I… will create a new world in which there will be no suffering, no injustice. For myself and for all those who would seek such a world with me. Then there will be no further need of this world, and it can be eliminated."

A lashing tail caught him in the face. _Fool! You think to right the wrongs done to you by creating the world anew? You know nothing of the workings of the universe, the creation and maintaining of worlds. A world without suffering or injustice? A child's fantasy! Your science man, Rowan-the-Land, should know that as he knew of my nature. And yours. Your imbalance of will and emotion blinds you to yourself and to the world you live in. That is enough._

The being's topmost eye glowed. Cyrus's eyes widened. Weity left him frozen, awash in a torrent of emotions, and made its way on a leisurely circuit of the room. Its eyes rotated again.

_Rowan-Land. Oh, I see. Lots of Uxie. But not bad. And a Hubble-thing? Hubble-Island, you would say? Oh, trying!_ The creature laughed. _You're closer. Mars-the-Flicker-Fire. So warm, so warm! Maybe burning sometimes! Too much Mespirit? Just a bit._ A tail caressed the tip of her hair, and Weity laughed again. _No, only a bit. Humans are fine like that. Right, Jupiter-Star? Lots of Azelf, plenty. But it's you, it's okay._ She would have flinched at the tail's light pat on her head. _Can't help it._

_Oh, Saturn-Star. Bright Saturn-Star. Tired of planets, want to be a star? Don't know? Maybe little Saturn-Sun? Lots, lots, lots of Mespirit. Not enough Azelf. Enough of you, too. Cyrus-the-Sun has more, you can have._ The third eye glowed. Saturn's pupils widened. J_ust leaves little Tethys-Moon. Know what you are, like it lots. Maybe not so much Uxie…_ It glanced towards Professor Rowan, then shook its head. _But fine, just fine. Lots of moons in the sky. I saw._

Mars made a sound in her throat. Weity turned and floated back to her in delight. _Oh? Flicker-Flame, flaring up? Strong! Well?_

She found she could speak again. "Wait. So are you the being of balance of human personalities or something?"

_For life, Mars-Flame. For grass, for Oran berries, for Starlies, for you, for world, universe._ It executed a slow, mesmerizing dance in the air, watching her.

"You mean like good and evil?"

_Good? Evil?_ The eyes did a slow, full rotation. _No. Silly idea. Just life, not ideas._

"Then… why not just do your job and balance out everybody, why just a few? If you think the grunt's too stupid and the professor's too smart, why not just even things out?"

_Hm. You see, but you don't._ The Pokemon twirled its tails. _Universe needs balance first, then whole worlds, then through lands and Pokemon and people and everything. Good to fix wrong things, right? But fix everything, just leaves all the same, no fun, no Mespirit, no point. Like him, his wanting._ A tail flicked towards Cyrus, whose pupils were mere pinpoints flitting in the irises.

"I always thought… it would be better," Mars said meekly.

The eyes rotated again, and tails lashed angrily. _Better! Not enough Azelf, you! Don't know, won't know. Bored of you. Leaving now._ The creature paused by Rowan for a moment. _Tell Lucas-the-Spring bye. Love him lots. Tell him all this. All._ The third eye blazed. Rowan nodded fearfully.

In a flash of light that further crumbled the machinery, Weity was gone. The seven humans regained the ability to move, and staggered to catch their balance.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Is everyone all right?" Saturn said when he managed to catch his breath. A ragged chorus of assent responded. He looked around to Tethys, gesturing him over to Rowan and his aide. "We should go up, then. It may not be safe here much longer."

Tethys paused, but Saturn's face was calm and steady, so he nodded and went over to urge the two scientists back to the upper room.

Saturn stepped carefully through the shards of glass and metal. As he approached, Jupiter and Mars moved a little closer together. "We need to get out of here. There's nothing more to be done now."

Mars frowned a little. "You've got a lot of nerve telling us what to do, Saturn. What gives you the right?"

The male commander bowed his head. "I'm sorry. Really sorry. I just snapped, I couldn't stop myself." He raised his head again. "I have no excuses. I don't expect you to forgive me, I'm not asking for that. But we need to get out of here." A new shower of sparks erupted from one of the lights on the ceiling, emphasizing his point.

Jupiter's eyes narrowed. She crunched a few steps forward and delivered a stinging slap to his face. Mars followed quickly with a sharp punch to his stomach that left him doubled over, gasping for breath. Jupiter yanked him back up by the front of his shirt, bringing their faces mere inches from each other.

"Pull one more stunt like that, and I swear I'll break every bone in your body. Creep," she hissed. Mars loomed menacingly beside her.

Saturn nodded quickly. "I - I understand. I'd deserve it." They glared at him. "I mean it. I don't care what's going on, if that happens again, I'll need a few bones broken."

Jupiter dropped his shirt, turned on her heel, and marched up the stairs, her nose in the air.

"You can bet on it," muttered Mars, and followed her friend.

Saturn rubbed his stomach where he'd been punched as he watched them ascend, then turned his attention to the rest of the room. Tethys was getting exasperated with Rowan and Hubble, who seemed intent on salvaging every bit of the broken equipment from the wreckage. Cyrus stood where Weity had left him, shoulders slumped, staring at the opposite wall.

"Cyrus?" the younger man said quietly, stepping over a fallen monitor to get closer. A tremor ran down the Galactic Boss's spine and he turned to Saturn. His eyes were full of tears and joy and fear and need and hope and despair and rage and sorrow and… well, any number of emotions.

"Saturn?" he rasped.

"Are you all right?" Saturn asked.

Cyrus took a deep breath. He looked around, rather bewildered, then turned back to Saturn and took another breath. "I don't know what to do," he confessed softly.

"We need to get out of here." Cyrus stared at him, uncomprehending. Saturn took hold of his arm and turned him towards the stairs. The room rumbled, and a crack appeared in the floor. A spark fell on some papers and ignited.

"Crap," Saturn muttered. He moved towards the stairs, dragging Cyrus along with him and stopped at the bottom. "Rowan!" he growled. "Move your ass or lose it. This garbage isn't worth our lives. NOW!"

Rowan, Hubble, and Tethys stared at him for a moment.

"Very well," Rowan said gruffly after a moment. "We're leaving." He and Hubble quickly abandoned their pile of rubble and headed up the stairs. Tethys stopped to look questioningly at Saturn, who gave him a lopsided smile.

"It doesn't always pay to be polite," he said. "Go on, we'll be right behind you.

Tethys returned the smile hesitantly and scrambled up the stairs, thinking that he hadn't seen Commander Saturn look so… normal… since at least that morning.

Saturn turned to Cyrus. "All right, let's go." He kept hold of the older man's arm and started up the stairs. Cyrus shuffled after him, but stopped at the bottom and looked back. No amount of pulling from Saturn could budge him. The floor rumbled again. Saturn set his jaw.

"Cyrus!" He grabbed the other man's opposite shoulder, jerking him back so they faced each other again. "Stop being an idiot, right now," he hissed intensely. "This is all about to disappear into the ground, and unless you want to go with it, you'd better pick up your feet and walk RIGHT now." Cyrus's eyes widened a bit, but he didn't move. "And if that IS what you want, that's too bad, because if I go up there without you, I can think of at least two people who'll have my head on a platter!" Saturn stomped down to the second step so he still had the advantage of height, and stood sideways against the rail. "You've got more emotions and less control than you want? You think that changes something? Let me tell you, the rest of us have been dealing with that all our lives, so get over yourself and GET UP THERE _NOW!!_" He screamed in his former boss's face, and pointed up the stairs.

Cyrus flinched, and regarded him with fascinated horror. "All right, Saturn. I'm going," he said placatingly, and cautiously went up the stairs, casting a furtive glance behind him.

Saturn took a deep breath and let it out. As he followed Cyrus, he looked up to find the awe-struck faces of Mars, Jupiter, Tethys, Rowan, and Hubble ringing the top of the stairway.

"Are you looking at something in particular?" the blue-haired man asked stiffly as he reached the top. Tethys immediately reddened and shook his head. Mars and Jupiter raised their eyebrows to each other.

"Actually, we're looking at you, Saturn. You're making a scene again." Jupiter stepped up in his face and stared hard at him.

Saturn stared back for a second, then frowned, muttering, "I'd like to see you do better."

Jupiter smirked her superiority. "I'm sure you would."

"If you're quite finished," coughed Professor Rowan, "I believe we were discussing the wisdom of leaving? If the room below burns or collapses, this one will not be far behind."

"Right. Let's go," Saturn said quickly, dodging around Jupiter.

The little group exited the room, and had made it past four cross-tunnels when a rumbling made them stop and turn. The entire wall where Cyrus's hideout had been shook and began to fall, slowly at first, then all at once.

Saturn turned away from the destruction. "Come on," he said quietly. They continued on in silence to the hole under the Cycling Road. Saturn went up first to be sure no one was around. Night had fallen, and it had started to rain. Even the trainers who usually hung around had gone home. The others followed him to the surface.

"It's a shame that the data was lost and the Pokemon escaped," said Rowan, shaking his head. "But it was still an incredible experience. Perhaps we can help each other again some day." He looked to Cyrus, whose eyes were unfocused. The tall man didn't answer. He looked around dazedly.

"Well, come on," the professor said after a moment. He and his aide set of towards Oreburgh.

"Not one for long goodbyes, is he," Jupiter remarked dryly.

"I guess not." Saturn shrugged. "So… was that your only base?"

"Yeah." Mars sighed, then made a face. She hesitantly glanced at Cyrus.

"It is gone now. It no longer matters." The boss's breathing was still a bit ragged.

"Right," Tethys said quickly. He thought he recognized the glint in Cyrus's eye. The older man once again looked at him as if he'd never seen the grunt before.

"Well…" Saturn began carefully. "If you need somewhere to go for the night - or if you'd just like stock up on supplies, or… anything, the Veilstone building is at your disposal."

Mars and Jupiter looked at each other doubtfully. Then they looked at Cyrus, who was nodding slowly, almost reluctantly.

"Yes," he said. His voice trembled, just a bit. "I suppose we should… check on the property and personnel. I expect you've had enough of playing the boss by now."

Saturn frowned. "It's starting to become second nature, actually."

"I'm sure it is. I'm sure Team Galactic is alive and well, awaiting my return, because of you." He sounded confident and resigned, hopeful and frightened.

Saturn's frown deepened. He started to say something, but thought better of it. He couldn't really deny that. "Let's Fly back then," he said instead.


	6. Chapter 6

Notes: This is entirely a filler chapter, but it needs some filler right here. Things will pick up a bit in the next chapter! I want to get more into Jupiter and Mars, but this remains Saturn's story, and it's just not happening that way. It occurs to me that the title is no longer as appropriate as it was, but I promise it will be by the end. It's already starting to be here.

Sometimes I try to hold the next chapter until I get more comments. But… I'm too impatient, and I'm on a time budget, so I can't do that. But... you'd love to leave me more reviews, right?

I own these particular grunts, but nothing else in the story.

…

**For the Good of the Team - 6**

…

"So… you really almost strangled Commander Jupiter?" Rhea asked slowly, for the third time. Saturn rubbed the bridge of his nose and wished for the third time that she would just let it go.

"And he YELLED at CYRUS!" Tethys added eagerly, though his face was serious. "You should have seen it! And Cyrus did what he said!"

Saturn winced. "Thank you, Tethys, I'm not sure that was completely necessary," he muttered, turning back to the horrified fascination of his other employees. "Like I said, he… wasn't himself. I was just trying to evacuate as fast as possible."

"I wish I could have seen it," Mimas said wistfully. "The evolution of three legendary Pokemon into one! That may be the most incredible discovery of our age!"

"It was definitely… an experience," Saturn said, grateful for the change in subject. "I'll give you as many more details as I can later. So if there are no more questions…?" He looked around hopefully.

"Um." It was Kore, wearing a new uniform. It looked like he had tried to bleach and re-dye his hair the uniform aqua color. It was now an almost emerald green with patches of yellow and brown. "How long are… Cyrus… and the others staying?" There seemed to have been an unspoken consensus to call the boss by his name, though Saturn suspected they might have talked about it without him at some point.

Saturn hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure. I guess we'll have to discuss that today." The grunts shuffled and shared a couple of quick glances. Saturn frowned slightly. "Why?"

Dione spoke up after some quiet urging. "Well, sir… I guess we're all wondering about the Galactic Corporation's status. And ours."

"Oh!" Saturn's eyes widened a fraction. He'd been hoping to avoid that question, at least for a while. "You've all been the best staff I could ever hope for through hard times. I promise you're in no danger of losing your jobs." He was fairly sure he could promise that, at least.

"…And the Galactic Corporation?" Rhea asked, watching him closely. The commander wished she had chosen a different moment to resume being the sharp grunt he knew.

"All right. I wasn't going to bring it up, at least for a while, but before the evolution experiment, Cyrus asked me to rejoin him. Well, all of us, not just me." There was a general in-drawing of breath.

"Actually, I'm not sure the offer still stands," he continued. The grunts watched him apprehensively. "Can I assume, then, that you don't like the idea?"

They exchanged another look. "It IS nice to have some… job security," said Kore, avoiding Saturn's eyes and fingering his shirt. The others muttered their agreement.

"I really doubt Cyrus would fire any of you. You're the loyal few who didn't leave." Kore gulped. Saturn shook his head. "…And you came back. You're one of us."

"It… might not look very good to the community if Cyrus officially returned, sir," Rhea added.

"Maybe," Saturn conceded after a moment. "But he's obviously had this all planned out for some time now. Even if we don't know it, he has a plan. He always does. I'm sure he thought of that." The grunts nodded grudgingly.

"I wouldn't mind being able to use his influence for research and experimentation again. If that would even be possible anymore," Mimas admitted, glancing furtively at the others. It earned him a few glares. "He said he wanted to know," the scientist muttered defensively.

"No, I did," Saturn said quickly. "I want to know what you really think. And I honestly don't think it would be as bad as some of you seem to think." They looked a little uncertain.

"Do you want to work for Cyrus again?" Rhea asked him hesitantly. The blue-haired commander regarded her thoughtfully for a moment. He hadn't phrased it that way to himself before.

"…I'm not sure. I'm considering it." Saturn glanced over at Tethys. "But I want to know what all of you think, too. If I'm making this decision that will affect all of you, I need your input. And you know if you want to… it's never too late to get out of this altogether."

The grunts frowned and shook their heads. "We know. And we're not leaving." He looked at the others, who nodded their support forcefully.

"All right," Saturn said, smiling a bit. "I appreciate it. Because I'm not leaving either. But either way, we're going to be hospitable to all three of them. They deserve our respect. Got it?"

There was a chorus of assent.

"Good. Rhea, Dione, I need to talk to you. The rest of you go ahead and get going for the day. Oh, Kore, did you find something to do?"

"Oh, yeah!" The green-haired grunt smiled brightly. "I'm helping in the lab! It's great!"

Saturn's eyebrows rose as he looked at Mimas. He hadn't known the scientist to allow anyone else to spend much time in his laboratory. The other man shrugged and rolled his eyes, and gave a long-suffering sigh, but didn't complain. There was obviously more to this than Saturn grasped, or had time at the moment to tease out of the standoffish scientist.

"I'm glad it's going well," the commander said diplomatically. "Oh, byt the way Mimas, do you remember a scientist called Hubble?"

"Hubble? I remember him, laziest man in the lab, always losing our records." Mimas scowled at the memory.

"Turns out he was a double agent for Professor Rowan. But like I said before, I'm not sure when he and Cyrus started working together."

"I should've known," the thin man muttered darkly as he headed off to the warp panel with Kore tagging along behind him.

"All right." Saturn turned back to Dione and Rhea, who were sitting at the front desk. "What's my schedule for the day? Do I have one?"

"You're still meeting with Maylene," said Rhea distractedly, shuffling through her stack of papers. "We were going to call if you weren't back by today."

"Okay," Saturn said, nodding. "Anything else?"

"Not that I can find… Wasn't there some phone call, Dione? I can't find the message, I know I got it from you."

"Yeah! Let's see…" She tapped the desk with a pen, in no particular rhythm. "Oh, Cynthia called."

Saturn sucked in his breath through his teeth. "Is it the end of the month already?"

"Almost," Dione said with resigned cheerfulness. "She said unless you've got a scheduling conflict, Lucian can meet with you on Friday."

"…Do I have a conflict?" Saturn asked hopefully.

"No, I couldn't find one," said Dione. "Sorry. But it could be worse," she added optimistically.

"That's true. Friday it is, then" Every month Cynthia or a member of the Elite Four came to check on the Galactic Corporation. The Champion wasn't bad, and after a lengthy discussion of bug Pokemon, Aaron had come around. Mostly. He still acted suspicious at times. But being the youngest, Saturn decided, he might feel he had something to prove. Bertha ranged from comfortingly mothering to annoying. Lucian always seemed distracted, but Flint's intensity was too much for Saturn, and tended to intimidate the grunts.

"Friday should do nicely," Cyrus said briskly, striding into the room. The other three jumped a bit and turned towards him.

"Oh," Saturn faltered. "It's just a monthly check-in, nothing big. But I think it might get quite a bit bigger if you're here for it. I… really think it would be a bad idea."

A muscle twitched in Cyrus's jaw. "They will have to see me again some day. It will be now, I think."

Saturn fought down a tide of uneasiness and annoyance. "If you say so. But first, I should tell you how things are being done here now."

"I think I know how my own team is run, commander."

"It's quite a different place now," Saturn shot back. "Come up to my office, we'll discuss it."

The two stared at each other for a long moment. Dione and Rhea glanced at each other and inched back a bit.

"Very well, Commander Saturn," Cyrus finally replied. "Lead the way."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Jupiter slipped silently past the TV room to the kitchen. She was rummaging through the refrigerator when she heard a soft step behind her.

"Er… can I help you?" It was the grunt who'd been with Saturn.

"I see this was finally cleaned out," she remarked. "Is there anything edible in here?"

"There's rice, milk, eggs, bread… some leftovers, I think… um… There were some onions and potatoes somewhere."

Jupiter glanced up to the top of the refrigerator. "What about that cereal?"

"Oh, that's Rhea's stash."

"Who's Rhea?"

"She's… I guess the top grunt. She takes care of most of the big things with Commander Saturn."

The two stared at the bright boxes on top of the refrigerator. One was open and lying on its side.

"I guess an egg will have to do." She quietly found a pan, an egg, and some butter. Tethys watched her hunt through the shelves for spices. The woman glanced back at him in annoyance.

"And what are you, the cook?" she asked, rolling her eyes and putting a little butter in the pan, turning on the stove's burner.

"Most of the time!" Tethys said, a little more enthusiastically.

"Any good?" She cracked the egg over the pan. It sizzled.

"Well… I'm getting better."

Jupiter's attention was focused on the bubbling of her egg. "So not at all. Does Saturn usually take you out with him?"

"No," Tethys said. "That was kind of last-minute, and I was the only one with enough Pokemon and free time. Except Rhea, but he had to leave somebody in charge."

The commander turned off the flame and deftly flipped the egg onto a plate, where she dripped some hot sauce onto it. "I hear he spent a lot of time looking for us."

"Er… yeah. It was kind of our only clear goal for a long time." Jupiter took her breakfast and walked to the doorway of the TV room, where she paused.

"Were you ever my grunt?"

"Just for my first couple of weeks."

"How did you do?"

"I stole two Pokemon. Then…" He ducked his head. "I lost four to the same trainer. I was transferred to Commander Mars's squad after that."

"Hm. Do me a favor, will you?" She walked in and sat down at the back of the room.

"Oh sure. Of course," Tethys said, slightly confused as he followed her.

"You've got something to do, I'm sure of it. Why don't you go do it."

Tethys stepped back, then quickly left. Jupiter watched him go, clutching her plate tightly.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Mars tossed a few pieces of cereal into her mouth as she walked through the deserted halls of the Galactic Veilstone Building. The warp panels hadn't changed. The familiar building was too quiet, too dead. The signs on the walls were even beginning to curl up at the edges. She shivered. It was eerie. She'd wanted to stay with Jupiter, but Jupiter was in one of her moods and had told Mars to go investigate the food situation.

She'd investigated. Saturn had some good cereal.

So now she was looking for someone else. Anyone. She's spotted Cyrus talking to Saturn and a couple of grunt girls in the lobby a while ago. None of them looked happy, so she'd moved on.

"I'll find him later," she murmured to herself, thinking of Saturn. "And he'll have to forgive me for not contacting him. He owes me now. He owes all of us. So it'll be fine. Just fine." She thought the sound of her voice would be comforting. It wasn't, much.

She stepped onto a warp tile and off into the next room, where she almost collided with a female grunt carrying some papers. Mars dropped the last of her cereal.

"Look what you made me do!" the commander complained. "Watch where you're going!"

The grunt's eyes slowly rose from the fallen cereal to Mars's face. "Did you get that from the kitchen?"

"That's usually where you get food, yeah."

The grunt sighed in frustration and regret. "That was mine."

Mars stared at her for a moment. "…Oh."

"And it's the good kind, not the cheap off-brand!"

"Sorry."

"I hope you left some for me."

"It was still mostly full."

"…That's good." Rhea shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Well… half full, anyway." Mars guiltily ran her tongue over her teeth. "I couldn't find anything else. And it didn't have a name on it or anything."

"I never needed my name on it, everyone just knew." The disappointed grunt sighed.

"So, um… you were talking to Saturn and Cyrus before, right?" Mars asked.

"I was there, yes."

"So Saturn's done too?"

"No, he and Cyrus are in a private meeting. Then he's going to the gym."

The red-haired commander frowned. "Fine. Tell him I want to talk to him when he gets back."

"I will, ma'am." Rhea fidgeted a bit.

"Is there anything to do in this place?"

"Well there's the TV room, but -"

"The contest season's over, nothing's one. Did you see the finals yesterday?"

"I just caught the end."

"Who won?"

"Fantina did."

"Ha, Jupiter'll be happy." Mars grinned.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I really have to get back to work…" Rhea said, stepping to the side so Mars could pass.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess so." Mars frowned as the grunt hurried to the warp panel. "Wait, weren't you on my squad for a while?"

"For… two years," Rhea admitted, looking a little anxious.

"What, were you bad at it or something?"

"No, I think I was okay. Just not much good at battling."

"Oh, right. I guess it's not for everybody. Well… go ahead," Mars finished lamely, and Rhea warped away.

The young woman watched her potential conversation partner vanish, and turned away.

"I hate this place," she muttered. "Damn it, Cyr- Saturn Damn it, Saturn."


	7. Chapter 7

Notes: I was going to do more in this chapter, but I realized I would never find a decent stopping point if I kept going, so I decided to split it in two. I think by the end you'll have a pretty good idea of what may happen next. As always, comments and thoughtful reviews are appreciated! Non-thoughtful ones will be accepted as well, just with less enthusiasm! Suggestions are welcome, but may not be followed!

Poor Jupiter. It's not that I don't like her, because I do.

I own the grunts, nothing more.

…

**For the Good of the Team - 7**

…

"Tell me, what do you think of this?" Lucian asked Maylene. The Veilstone gym leader had been waiting for him when he arrived at the Pokemon Center.

"I haven't actually seen Cyrus," the girl confessed. "I've been asking every day, but Saturn keeps saying he's not feeling well or still settling in. Or just isn't seeing anyone."

"Hm. Do you think that's an excuse?"

"Well… I think it might be true, partly. But I think there's got to be another reason he doesn't want me to see Cyrus. He doesn't seem too thrilled with it either, though."

The psychic trainer frowned and pushed his glasses further up on his nose. "Do you think he's planning something?"

"Who, Saturn?" Maylene frowned. "I don't think so. He's always seemed sincere about turning himself around. And he didn't even have to tell me Cyrus was back. Nobody's seen him at all."

"You're right," Lucian said, looking towards the tall, spiked building.

"I guess… you're not too worried? Since you didn't bring backup?"

"I've got the others on speed-dial," said Lucian vaguely, still looking up at the looming hulk of a building. "Cynthia would have come herself, but her grandmother just fell ill. She went to Celestic Town this morning."

"Wow, so did you just close the League today?"

"We declared a trainer clinic. Aaron, Flint, and Bertha are doing some talks, demonstrations, and practice battles. I'll be joining them whenever I wrap this investigation up, so I really should be going. But if you have some time, stop by and see us," he said, smiling.

"Oh, I will, for sure!" the young gym leader said, grinning back. "Good luck!"

"Thank you," the tall man said as he started off towards the Galactic Veilstone Building.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Saturn paced around the lobby. Rhea and Dione watched from the front desk.

"What time is it?" he asked tersely.

"Two minutes past ten," Lucian answered, stepping through the door. "I apologize for my lateness, I stopped for a moment to talk with Maylene."

"Oh, it's fine." Saturn had jumped a little at the taller man's entrance. He was never sure just how much psychic power Lucian shared with his Pokemon.

"So… I assume Cyrus is here?" Lucian asked.

"He's in his office," the commander said shortly. "I thought we'd do the standard tour first."

"All right." The two set off, and Rhea joined in behind them. The building tour was to make sure no weapons or illegal Pokemon were being kept, and to provide time for questions if necessary. It was all fairly pointless by now, or had been until today, but they continued to go through the motions every month.

"I take it this has been a rather busy week for you?" the elite trainer asked, trying to keep the more burning questions at bay a little longer.

"You could say that," Saturn muttered. "Just dealing with the publicity aspect of this with you and the gym leaders has been more than enough. I thought Byron was going to literally bite the head off of one of my staff members. I don't even know how to answer most of the questions I've been getting. I really appreciate how patient you've been."

Lucian gave him a sharp look. "You don't know? What do you mean?"

"I mean all Cyrus will tell me is that he wants to be the one to tell you himself. I don't know his plan any more than you do."

"And you put up with that?" The two frowned at each other.

"It's nothing new. He's never told me all of his plans. Though I don't think it's just me, I'm sure there's plenty he never told the others, too."

Lucian shook his head. "I thought he would have trusted his commanders more than that."

"He did, in his way," Saturn said, his face blank. "I'm still fairly sure of that. He told me that he kept me in the dark so I could hold onto the team while arousing the minimum of suspicion."

Lucian's frown deepened. He said nothing.

"…I just want you to know the situation. It's true, everything worked according to his plans," Saturn said, turning his eyes to the wall rather than meet Lucian's penetrating stare. "There's a lot more going on here than I understand, even now. I'm trying to remedy that, but it's not going well, so I'm hoping today I'll make some progress in that area."

They walked in silence for a moment. Then Lucian spoke icily.

"I would warn you to be careful, but it seems far too late for that."

"It is," Saturn agreed glumly.

Lucian didn't take much more than a cursory glance around until they got to the lab. Not that he was careless, but most of the rooms had been cleared out, and they were now as bare as the hallways. As the stepped into the humming laboratory, Kore nearly tripped over his own feet in his rush to greet the purple-haired man. Mimas followed a bit more reluctantly. Saturn watched Lucian ask Kore some questions about himself, his rejoining the group, and the lab for a minute before motioning Mimas over.

"So I take it you're happy with him?" the blue-haired man asked quietly.

"He'll do." The scientist gave a dismissive shrug.

"You hate anyone else setting foot in your lab. Why the sudden warm welcome?"

Mimas made a face. "He's good with Pokemon," he admitted grudgingly. "Very good. They adore him. And he's quick with numbers once he knows the proper equation. As long as he doesn't touch any delicate equipment, I wouldn't mind keeping him."

"Good!" Saturn said with a short laugh. "I was afraid nothing and no one would satisfy you!"

"They rarely can," Mimas said flippantly. They watched Lucian politely admire Kore's Clefairy, then turn to them.

"So there have been no new experiments recently?" Lucian asked, his strangely piercing eyes boring into Mimas's darker ones.

"No," the scientist answered shortly. He was difficult to intimidate.

"All right." The psychic trainer was suddenly all smiles. "Do inform me if you start anything new, I would just love to hear about it."

Mimas narrowed his eyes. Kore quickly nodded and assured Lucian that they would let him know right away. Saturn nodded over the grunt's head to confirm it.

"Thank you! Well, it was lovely to visit. I look forward to returning another time," Lucian said as he waved to the two, and Saturn and Rhea followed him out. All three visibly steeled themselves as they approached Cyrus's closed door. There was a muffled slamming noise from inside.

"Is there anything you should tell me before we go in?" Lucian asked, watching Saturn carefully.

"…I already told you I don't know what to expect," Saturn said. "He's… different than he was. That Pokemon did something to him, I think it meant to balance out his emotions and willpower. But he's been working with his old balance of them for longer than I've known him, so… he's not quite used to it yet. Sometimes it doesn't seem like he has much self-control. So I guess… try to be patient with him."

Lucian nodded slowly. "And the other commanders?"

"I'm really not sure. I don't think they quite know what's happening either. They're just following him, I doubt they'd… act on their own in whatever this is." The three had been getting together now and then to talk. Saturn had forgotten how much he'd missed that, though the two women tried to avoid talking about work with him. It bothered him. He suspected they were following Cyrus's instructions. It was probably a smart idea, but he wanted to know what they knew and what they thought about the situation.

Lucian frowned, then forced a smile. "All right. After you then, Saturn."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Cyrus was pacing. Jupiter and Mars shared a glance across the room. Jupiter tried to hide her concern, but it shone clearly in Mars's face.

"Do you need us to do anything, sir?" Mars asked, managing a fairly calm voice.

"Do anything? No. I'm prepared. I have my plan," Cyrus muttered intensely as he stalked from one side of the room to the other.

"But what if he asks us about our plans?" the red-haired commander cut in quickly. "What can we say? You haven't told us -"

Just follow my lead," Cyrus snapped irritably. "Do as I do and we will have the whole Pokemon League eating out of our hands."

"Could you at least give us some idea of your ultimate goal?" Jupiter pressed, her voice steady and rational.

"It hasn't changed. That Pokemon - Weity - it was wrong. I will create a better world. Everyone shares that wish, but no one else is willing to commit to it on the same level that I am. No one!" He slammed his hands down on the desk, eyes blazing with self-righteous passion. Mars and Jupiter shared a glance.

"All right…" Jupiter said placatingly. "…But he'll have questions. He won't just take what we say at face value. We'll have to be prepared to defend ours goals."

Cyrus waved his hand dismissively. "He knows nothing. It will be no problem."

"Just be sure to keep your temper," the taller woman said quietly.

Cyrus turned and strode over to loom directly over her. "You will not speak to me like that, Commander Jupiter. Ever again, if you want to live to see my new world. I thought you new better."

Jupiter tried to back away, but she was already standing against the wall. "Y-yes, sir," she whispered, and her face seemed to close off. Mars's eyes were wide with fear.

Cyrus appeared to realize where he was. He blinked at the woman trying to melt into the wall in front of him, and quickly stepped away to the large desk. As he took deep, shaking breaths, Mars locked eyes with Jupiter. Her lips moved in concern. Her lips moved in concern. Jupiter shut her eyes and took a breath of her own. She shook her head.

"A new world," Cyrus was muttering, not quite under his breath. "We will make a shining new world, where none of this will matter."

Jupiter's eyes opened, and she gazed steadily at her boss. Here, now, in this world, it did matter.

The door opened, and they all turned. Saturn stepped through apprehensively. Lucian followed, tall and confident. Rhea brought up the rear, clutching her clipboard.

"Cyrus," Lucian greeted him. "It's… an honor to finally meet you, after hearing so much."

"An honor for me as well," Cyrus replied, stepping forward to shake hands with a neutral expression fixed on his face. Saturn remembered the boss's handshake to be bone-crushing, but Lucian's expression never wavered. "Welcome."

The tall trainer in red missed very little. He saw that Cyrus's nerves were as tight as violin strings. He saw the expressions on the two female commanders' faces that they couldn't quite hide in time. He felt Saturn tense up as soon as the door opened. And he sensed the grunt step to the side as soon as she'd stepped through the door, and press her back to the wall.

"It's very nice to be back," the psychic elite said politely. "Saturn has always been helpful and welcoming. I do appreciate it."

"Yes," said Cyrus, glancing at Saturn, who had also noticed his fellow commanders' expressions. "And now I believe we have much to discuss. Saturn, you and your grunt may leave us."

Lucian spoke up before Saturn could put his outrage into words. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize this was a private meeting, since you have your two commanders with you. I'd rather Saturn and his worker remain in the room."

Cyrus frowned.

"It's necessary, you see," the elite trainer continued smoothly. "Whenever we're in a meeting, we request that a few outside parties be present as well, to be neutral observers in case of any argument or incident. I realize Saturn and Rhea don't entirely fulfill that requirement, but I believe they are as close as we can get at the moment. Would you mind?"

Everyone stared at Lucian. Saturn was fairly sure he had never heard of that policy before, and it had certainly applied to him in the past. But he wasn't about to let Cyrus push him out of this meeting that would finally have to explain what had been going on.

"Very well," Cyrus said abruptly, scowling darkly. "Please, have a seat." He gestured to the only chair in front of the desk.

Saturn remained standing as Lucian and Cyrus sat on opposite sides of the desk. Lucian looked much more alert than usual, though still friendly enough. Cyrus's eyes smoldered oddly. The male commander found himself wishing he were elsewhere. No, he found himself wishing Cyrus was elsewhere, preferably far away. His former coworkers might not have the same thought, but they certainly didn't seem very happy with the situation.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

In the lobby, Dione switched the security camera to full-screen on her monitor, and flipped through until she found Cyrus's office. She took out her phone and sent a message to the other three unoccupied grunts.

"THEY R IN. HURRY THIS LOOKS GOOD" She turned up the volume and waited for the others to arrive…


	8. Chapter 8

Notes: Here's the long, dramatic scene I've been working up to. I figured it could go one of two ways, and I was thinking a fight could be fun, but after a moment's consideration, I realized Saturn would probably die early on, which I'm not prepared for. I also have too many people to keep track of, so I'm sorry if they seem to disappear from time to time I tried to keep everyone around. I imagine Lucian would actually have stopped this before it went too far, but he mostly wants to observe, rather than interfere right now. And that would either make for a boring chapter or… possibly a dead Lucian too. Again, no what I'm going for.

Just one more chapter. Probably.

Pokemon, Dawn, Team Galactic and its members, and the Elite Four and its members belong to Nintendo. The grunts belong to me.

…

**For the Good of the Team - 8**

…

The three grunts and the scientist were crowded around the computer. The sound was weak, but they could hear Cyrus explaining where he had been for the past few months.

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you decide to go underground?" Lucian's voice was small and tinny. Saturn shifted his weight from one foot to the other beside the seated man.

"I was injured in the course of the summoning," Cyrus responded. "It was not serious, just slow to heal. I thought it best to recover in peace, rather than deal with the publicity at the time. Besides, I had work to do that I did not want interrupted."

"I doubt that," Mimas sneered, leaning over Dione's chair.

"You weren't there, were you?" asked Tethys.

"No, but no non-serious injury takes that long to heal. And did he ever bring it up when you and Saturn found him?"

"No," Tethys admitted. "Then why is he telling Lucian that?" Kore frowned a little and nodded.

"It sounds more innocent." Dione shrugged. "I guess he -"

There was a loud banging on the door. The four jumped guiltily. Dawn, Professor Rowan's assistant, stood outside glaring at them as she tried to push the door open. Dione let out a deep sigh of frustration and ran to unlock it.

"What do you want?" she snapped. "Didn't you see the sign? We're closed!"

"You're not closed, you're all sitting in here watching a movie!" Dawn proclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at them. "Don't be so lazy."

"We aren't being lazy," Tethys argued. "Commander Saturn's in a meeting with Cyrus and Lucian, and we're…" he trailed off, looking doubtfully at the computer screen. Saturn had glanced up at the camera for a second.

"…You're spying?" Dawn asked gleefully. "That's awful!"

"It's not! Saturn said it was our business too!" The others nodded defensively. "And anyway, it'll probably all be in the news."

"And Lucian said it wasn't a private meeting," added Dione, going back to her seat. "Did you need something here?"

"I've got a letter from the professor for Cyrus," Dawn said, walking around the desk so she could see too. "…It looks pretty intense."

"It is," said Dione shortly. "So either drop your letter and go, or keep it down so the rest of us can hear."

Dawn watched the screen. After a moment she set the letter down on the desk, but she made no move to leave. "You should totally have popcorn for this."

The others spared her a glance. "Well you know where the department store is," said Mimas acidically.

"Pick us up some lemonade too, if you're going," added Dione.

"Wha - Wait, I'm not going all the way across town for some snacks!" Dawn said indignantly. "It'd be over by the time I got back!"

"Then SHHH!" Dione ordered, trying futilely to turn the volume up further.

"Okay, okay," Dawn muttered, through none of them had much attention to spare for anything other than the screen. Lucian had turned his questions to Mars for the moment…

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"…And what made you decide to join Team Galactic in the first place?" the purple-haired man asked politely.

"I don't know, I didn't feel like being a Pokemon trainer was as great as it's cracked up to be," Mars said with an uncomfortable shrug. "I mean, at best you might get to be the Champion, then some snotty kid beats you the next day? What's the point? No offense to you, of course. But then I met Cyrus and his team just made so much more sense."

"Well, the life of a Pokemon trainer certainly isn't for everyone," Lucian said with a small laugh. "And Miss Jupiter, what are your plans now?"

Jupiter looked startled for a second, but then it was gone. Saturn noticed Mars frowning slightly at the elite trainer.

"I'm not entirely sure," Jupiter said carefully, her eyes darting back and forth from Lucian to Cyrus, both of whom were watching her closely. "…Maybe you should ask Cyrus."

Lucian's eyes remained on her a second longer before turning to Cyrus with a smile. "Very well, perhaps you would tell me your intentions for the future?

"It has always been my aim to make the world a better place," said the tall man. "I believe with the proper resources and effort that we can do away with injustice and suffering."

"…Through the re-creation of the world?" Lucian asked, leaning forward a bit and eyeing Cyrus skeptically. "As you were before?"

"I have spent years researching possibilities," Cyrus said, seemingly immovably. "It is the only way to truly change the world."

"But how can you say that?" Saturn interrupted. "It's a noble goal, but realistically, what can you do to change human nature? Even if you create a new world, if there are humans, or even any life, there will still be suffering and injustice. That's the nature of the world, and of humans too. You might succeed in creating a new world, I can believe in that because I know you. But changing the fundamentals of humanity? You can't possibly say that's what you're going for."

Cyrus's head slowly pivoted towards Saturn. "Any why not? Think how much better the world would be. Are you saying you believe we should all be subject to the unfairness of this world? That all people deserve it somehow?"

"No!" Saturn exclaimed quickly. "No. But the world doesn't operate based on fairness. It just… doesn't. What happens, happens. And we deal with that and move on. Besides, how would you do that, even with all the technology and power you could possibly acquire?

Cyrus's smile seemed brittle. "With the powers of the right Pokemon, anything is possible."

"You mean Weity? You're probably right, but you'll never catch it again. And it said it wouldn't do things like that to everyone."

"No, not that. A different Pokemon. That was a setback, but only a single step of the ladder to reach my ultimate goal. There is another mythical Pokemon, one greater than all others. A god among Pokemon."

"Arceus…" Lucian breathed as he went deathly pale, his eyes riveted to Cyrus's face in astonishment.

"Precisely," Cyrus said. "I knew that you would be interested in improving not only the lives of all humans and Pokemon, but of improving the entire world. Your support in this will be greatly appreciated, and afterwards you will be hailed as a hero for helping to bring about the new world." His voice had risen higher than usual, and his eyes were fixed to a spot on the wall. Mars and Jupiter fidgeted and shared a nervous glance.

"No," Saturn mumbled, almost under his breath. Everyone else in the room turned to him. In the lobby, Dawn and the grunts had their faces pressed together, almost on the screen to hear. It was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry?" Cyrus said. A deadly calm had shot through his voice, though his eyes had widened.

"…I said no," Saturn replied. His voice was soft but steady. "I… think this is going too far. You can't do this."

"You were enthusiastic enough before, Commander." Cyrus had not moved an inch since Saturn had spoken.

"I think you've lost some of your powers of persuasion since then. I was young, and I was caught up in your dream because it sounded wonderful. You never mentioned your methods. It's my own fault, I shouldn't have been so naive. But I'm done with that now."

"…I'm sorry to hear that, Saturn," Cyrus said icily. "I thought you had more loyalty than that. And more common sense. But if that is how you feel, then I relieve you of your post as commander. Those of us who are not so small-minded shall go on without you."

Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Rhea's heads all jerked. In the lobby Dione and Tethys jumped back so fast that they knocked Kore and Dawn over.

Saturn and Cyrus stared at each other. The shorter man had almost taken a step back, but now slowly straightened up.

"I'm sorry," he said in a quiet, very calm voice. "I was under the impression that the Galactic Corporation was now under my command, not yours. Meaning that you now lack the power to do a thing like that."

"But I have returned, so your 'command' is no longer necessary." Cyrus said, irritation plain in his face. "Hand over your keys to the building, please, and leave us now."

Saturn took a step closer and leaned over the desk at Cyrus. "Commander or not, the Galactic Corporation has passed to me. It's been recognized by the whole Sinnoh region. You are the one who's where he doesn't belong." He paused and straightened up again. "And if you're going to continue to treat me as your subordinate, I think you're the one who should go. I invited you here to recover, not to continue your unrealistic plans, upset my workers, and try to undo everything I've done."

"You mean as you did to me?" Cyrus hissed through his teeth, rising to tower over Saturn. "I gave you this chance, the chance to be even greater than I'd made you before, to practically build an empire, or at least maintain the one I began, and FIVE grunts is the best you could do? The bottom scrapings of society, incompetent at even the simplest tasks I assign them?"

Saturn had stiffened, and as Cyrus spoke his face was suffused with blood. "Say what you like about me, but do not, under ANY circumstances, speak of MY employees that way!" he roared. Rhea, Mars, and Jupiter's jaws dropped, and even Lucian leaned back in his chair. "They are nothing short of EXCEPTIONAL! And if you want to fix the unfairness and injustices of the world, you're obviously the first problem on the list!!"

The only sound for a moment was Saturn panting out his rage. Jupiter edged away from him to stand beside Mars. Then Lucian cleared his throat delicately. "Saturn, Cyrus, perhaps you hadn't discussed all you needed to before I arrived…"

"There is nothing to discuss," said Cyrus, eyes pinned to Saturn's. "Nothing has changed here, aside from one silly attempt at rebellion."

Saturn looked ready to explode. With a massive effort, he took a breath and turned to Lucian. "You're right," he said through clenched teeth. "There is a lot we need to discuss. Would you mind leaving us for a moment?"

The psychic trainer's eyebrows rose. "I don't think that would be wise at the moment."

"Fine." Saturn whirled back to glare at Cyrus. "How can you say nothing has changed? You've been gone for months, our whole mission has changed!"

"Team Galactic will never -" Cyrus began.

"Team Galactic is dead!" Saturn interrupted sharply. Mars and Jupiter moved a little nearer to each other and stifled gasps. "It ended when you left. It couldn't survive your lust for power then, and it won't now. Palkia, Dialga, Weity… Where does it end? You couldn't contain any of the others, and you should know by now that Arceus won't be any different! It's the god of all Pokemon, not your personal genie!"

Cyrus's face grew redder and redder. A vein began to throb in his head. "That's enough, Saturn! You don't know what you're talking about, I have -"

"Don't I know?" Saturn cut in. "Whose fault would that be? Who claimed I was extraordinary, treated me better than almost anyone else, then never told me a thing?"

"I did what I had to do, to ensure success," Cyrus grated out. "You were never dissatisfied before."

"Oh, wasn't I?" Saturn laughed angrily. "Grunts were told more than I was! I did everything you asked, because I believed you were doing something worthwhile, because I believed in YOU, and that's how you repaid my loyalty!"

"I had nothing to repay!" Cyrus thundered," stomping over to close the distance between them. Mars and Jupiter took a couple of steps to the side, putting Lucian between them and the two angry men. "You owe me your life! Or had you forgotten? I found you wandering around Mount Coronet in the fod, a helpless, sniveling child, and I took you in! I gave you a purpose, I gave your life meaning, I even raised you up above the worthless masses to be great, and still you expect more? You were the one I was certain above all others would not let me down if left to your own devices, and you turn against me now!"

Lucian had quickly risen from his seat, and Rhea had stepped forward as Cyrus approached Saturn. There was no mistaking the fear in Jupiter and Mars's eyes. In the lobby Dione, Tethys, and Dawn had almost screamed. Saturn looked straight up into now nearly pupil-less eyes that heaved in the face above him with a hint of steel in his own eyes.

"I haven't forgotten," he said quietly. "And I'm grateful for that, yes. But it doesn't make me blind to everything else going on. You know I always looked up to you, so I'm truly sorry if I've disappointed you. But you're wrong, and I'm not going to stand for it. If it has to be my personal mission in life, you will not succeed in altering this world in any way."

Cyrus narrowed his eyes, breathing heavily. "You have no power over that," he growled.

"Don't I?" Saturn asked, calmly now, walking around Cyrus to lean on the desk behind him. "I think I do. More than you, at any rate. You can't even control your own temper, how do you expect to control other people, or an all-powerful Pokemon?"

A tremor of fury shook Cyrus. "You have no right, Saturn! Shut your mouth, or regret it forever!"

But Saturn was shaking his head slowly. "I have every right. You gave that to me, remember?" He took a step closer to the tall man. "I never thought it would be like this, but -"

Cyrus turned so fast that his arm caught Saturn in the side at full force. It knocked the shorter man across the desk, and knocked the wind out of him. The observers in both rooms jumped and started forward. Saturn fought to get his breath back. The two stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, and Saturn thought he saw the older man's pupils grow just a bit. He slowly stood up, rubbing his side.

"I really wish we HAD talked before this," he said quietly. "But now? That's why Lucian wouldn't leave us alone. He knows what he's doing. I'm pretty sure you could kill me single-handedly if you tried even a little." He rolled his right shoulder a bit to try to loosen it up a bit. "Feeling any better after that?"

Cyrus's eyes looked almost as dead as they had before Weity. Or possibly more-so. He said nothing. Saturn took a cautious step closer, though not close enough to be mowed down again.

"So," he continued softly. "Have you figured out that your plans have crumbled yet? That even if I can't stop them, the League will? Let me guess, you don't know what to do or who to trust… You certainly won't be trusting yourself any time soon. Sound right?"

Cyrus's eyes grew with every word.

"…He's scared," Kore whispered, astounded.

"Of course," Tethys said softly, but with narrowed eyes. "That's exactly what he's thinking."

"I did look up to you," Saturn said calmly. "And I still respect you a great deal. So I have some things to say, and I think you should listen to me. The Galactic Corporation is mind now, mine to decide a path for. It's time to let go of it. You don't even really want it anymore, I know you don't." He paused. "And that's okay. It really is. You're smart enough to do anything, you don't need this."

Cyrus began to say something, and stopped. A massive shudder ran down his spine, and a surprisingly young whimper emitted from his throat.

Saturn put a hand on Cyrus's shoulder. Before the tall man could flinch away, he was pushed lightly down to sit on the desk. "But you're used to doing everything alone. That didn't end up working so well for you this time. Life's obviously changed, and you've got to change with it whether you like it or not. I'm sure with more time to adjust, you'll be just as good at drawing people in as you ever were before." He looked over at Mars and Jupiter. "…Not easily, but… er…" Saturn trailed off in the face of their expressions.

"Is that the end of your touching speech, Saturn?" Jupiter asked, eyeing Cyrus.

Saturn frowned in exasperation. "Like YOU could do any better? Listen, I know exactly what's going on in his head, I think I know what I'm doing. Just stay out of this for now, okay?" He turned back to the golden-eyed man. "Some advice. Make a friend, Cyrus. Anyone, even a Pokemon. You'll find life a lot easier."

Saturn turned to flash a quick grin straight at the security camera. In the lobby, Tethys and Dione erupted into laughter. Mimas smiled slightly, and Kore smiled back, uncertainly.

Cyrus mouthed something. It might have been a question.

"Just give it a try. It's not supreme power, but I've found it helps a lot. In case you needed a suggestion." Saturn smiled, though it was slightly strained. "You're… welcome to visit any time, but I don't think it would be a good idea for you to stick around here. At least not for a while." He stepped back over to Lucian.

"Are you satisfied?" he asked, with more cheerfulness than should have been allowed, though his smile still had a certain fixed quality to it.

"Have you ever considered a career as a negotiator?" the trainer asked. "I think you might be successful at it."

Saturn laughed a little. "I don't know about that. I fully expected to be pounded into the wall once or twice there. Er…" He frowned. "You won't have to press charges, will you?"

Lucian regarded him coolly. "Seeing as I now have a recording of the entire… incident, which the others are fully expecting, I'm going to have to share it with them at the very least."

Saturn nodded slowly, watching Cyrus. Jupiter and Mars had ventured over to him cautiously. "What's going to happen?" he asked quietly.

"I suspect we'll need to discuss that in depth," Lucian answered just as softly. Both of them looked on as Mars stepped closer and Cyrus pushed her away with excessive carefulness. "And then… I couldn't say just yet."


	9. Chapter 9

Notes: I meant this to be the last chapter, but… it's not. Expect an epilogue soon-ish. I like this chapter, but I'm not sure if Saturn and Cyrus's relationship is entirely believable. I know I overdid it with Cyrus once or twice, but I still like it. Let me know what you think.

Thanks to everyone who's been commenting! Especially Ratiasu on deviant art and Blake Wilson on FF.N. Every chapter, mostly long and thoughtful! Woo!

Nintendo owns every character in here except the grunts.

…

**For the Good of the Team - 9**

…

Saturn took a breath before knocking on the door to Cyrus's office. He'd looked a bit for Jupiter and Mars first, but they were nowhere to be found. They were probably out around town somewhere.

The door opened. Cyrus's expression was carefully blank, but it cracked a bit when he saw who was there.

"Saturn," he said cautiously.

"Hi," Saturn replied carefully. "I just… wanted to check on you. Tethys told me he hadn't seen you eat anything since Lucian was here two days ago."

"I haven't been hungry." Cyrus avoided Saturn's eyes until the shorter man stepped forward. "…I had some bread last night," he mumbled defensively.

Saturn frowned and grabbed the older man's arm. Cyrus drew back a bit. "Come on. We're going to the kitchen." He pulled the other man along with him.

Tethys smiled hesitantly as they walked in. "Um, hi… Can I get you anything?"

"No, thanks." Saturn smiled back blithely as Cyrus eyed the grunt uncertainly. "I think we can manage. Why don't you go grab Rhea and find something fun to do for a while? You could both use a break, I'm sure."

"Uh…" Tethys began. Saturn's smile remained bright and insistent. "Um. Okay," he finally said, and crept out to find Rhea.

"Now. We're having potatoes and onions for lunch," Saturn announced, taking out a cutting board, knife, and some potatoes and onions which he began to slice. Cyrus watched for a while.

"I didn't know you cooked," he said faintly after a moment.

"It's a recent development," Saturn said briskly as he chopped. "Tethys… tries hard. And he's improving. And he's probably my favorite, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I need something I can really eat. Most of the others do it too." He took out a pan and slapped some butter in it before finishing up his cutting. Cyrus watched silently as Saturn turned on the flame and slid the potatoes and onions into the pan, then sprinkled some salt and pepper over it. He stirred purposefully, adding a little water now and then.

"What do you want, Saturn?" Cyrus asked quietly as the blue-haired man scooped some potatoes onto a plate for him.

"To make sure you don't starve, maybe?" Saturn suggested dryly. "Eat."

Cyrus frowned at the lumpy grayish mess on his plate for a moment before taking a bite. It wasn't bad. "I doubt that my health is your primary concern."

"Why's that?" Saturn asked, taking a bite of his own. They looked at each other for a moment.

"I would think that would be obvious after our meeting the other day," Cyrus said stiffly.

Saturn nodded slowly, then his smile returned. "Well it could've been a lot worse, right? At least you just lost your cool. I went completely insane, when it was me. But… I do understand. And I meant what I said, then, too."

"When you ordered me to leave, or when you said Galactic was solely yours?" Cyrus asked bitterly, shoving a potato across his plate.

"…I was thinking of when I said I admired and respected you… I'm sorry, I lost my temper too," Saturn admitted. "I just meant… maybe it's best if we don't work together."

Cyrus frowned at the table. "You may be right," he muttered after a moment.

"But Jupiter and I don't do well working together either. And Mars tends to goof off when we're together. Unless there's really a lot to do. But we're still friends." Saturn shrugged.

"Even after you hit Jupiter?" Cyrus looked up, bewildered.

"Yeah," replied Saturn. "It took a little while, but we are. It's… one more thing she can bother me about. But that's just what we do."

Cyrus frowned in confusion.

"Finish that," Saturn commanded, pointing at Cyrus's plate. "You're hungry, aren't you?"

"…Yes," Cyrus said hesitantly, as if he hadn't realized it before. He began to eat with a bit more enthusiasm.

"Good." Saturn smiled as he finished the last few bites of his lunch and took his plate to the sink to rinse off. "Oh… and… Cynthia called," he said, deceptively casual. "She said we should be at the League tomorrow at eight."

"In… the morning?" Cyrus put his fork down.

"Yeah." Saturn reached across the table to push the tall man's plate closer to him. "Really, finish that. Tethys and I are coming with you, and Jupiter and Mars will too. And Lucian said he would talk to Rowan."

"He'll deny it," Cyrus said flatly, pushing his chair back and holding his stomach. "There's no way he would admit…"

"That reminds me!" Saturn jumped up. "He sent you a letter with Dawn, Dione gave it to me yesterday. Let me go get it! That plate had better be empty when I get back!"

He dashed out. Cyrus looked after him a little while longer than he was visible, then took his plate quietly to the sink and scraped the remaining food down the garbage disposal. Then he sank back down, folded his hands, and stared at the tabletop.

"Here it is," Saturn said when he returned. He offered the sealed envelope to Cyrus, who took it reluctantly. He slid a finger under the flap, ripped it open, and carefully took out a sheet of paper. He frowned as he read, shaking he head now and then.

"What does it say?" Saturn asked softly.

Cyrus let the paper drop to the table. "First he says he wants to work together again in the future."

"I don't think that's a good idea," cautioned Saturn.

"I know," muttered the older man. Saturn raised his eyebrows. "He also says since I'm meeting Lucian today, I should remember our agreement. Well, I did." He laughed bitterly. "A lot of good that does now that it's over."

Saturn frowned. "Your agreement? What's what?" Cyrus looked up suspiciously. Saturn looked right back at him. "I think it would be good if you told me."

Cyrus watched him warily, then nodded slowly, as if agreeing to a strange, experimental procedure. "…We agreed… that we would never mention our… association… to anyone. Mars and Jupiter were the exceptions because we needed their help. We discussed including you and a member of his staff later." He frowned slightly at Saturn's expression. "What?"

The former commander was grinning from ear to ear. He had managed to ignore the irritation that rose at the mention of finally telling him something. That would take a long time to vanish. But it wasn't the main issue right now.

"Can I see that?" he asked. Cyrus pushed the letter towards him, and he plucked it up to read over. He gave a laugh of delight. "Oh, too easy!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Cyrus asked.

"He mentions your agreement here, along with past associations and future plans." Saturn pointed. "So this is perfect for evidence that he was a main instigator in the plot. And even if you kept your agreement, I didn't. Lucian, Maylene, and the other gym leaders and elites all know everything Tethys and I saw. Including Rowan. And Hubble infiltrating the team, that's good too. He could've said I was lying, but he can't deny his own handwriting."

"What exactly will this help?" Cyrus asked carefully. "Are you saying I should try to lie about my involvement?"

Saturn stopped smiling and looked up from the letter apprehensively. "No… Don't lie about any of it, there'll be a psychic Pokemon keeping tabs on that. But exactly what it helps depends on you. You said you weren't interested in working with Rowan again?"

Cyrus shook his head. Saturn sat down across from him with his elbows on the table, and rested his chin on his folded hands. "I need to know what you plan to do in the future, to know how and how much I can help you."

Cyrus swallowed. He continued to watch the younger man warily.

"Look," Saturn sighed. "I can't force you to trust me. But I'm trying to think of a way to help, and I can't do that unless I know what you're really thinking."

Cyrus bit his lip, eyes darting away before they returned to Saturn's face.

"…Do you have plans for the future?" Saturn pressed. Cyrus's eyes grew wide, then let out a shaky sigh and buried his head in his hands. He shook his head.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Saturn said quietly. "I know it's harder that way though, believe me." He paused. "What about Arceus?"

Cyrus shivered almost imperceptibly. "…I didn't know what to do," he said in a small voice. "It was the only thing that seemed to make any sense, it's all I've been doing for years…" He raised his head to look at Saturn again. "You said I could do anything. But I can't. It's… hard."

Saturn nodded sympathetically. "That's life, I'm afraid. It's harder to do anything different."

"What… should I do, Saturn?" the tall man asked pleadingly.

"I can't tell you what you should do," Saturn said gently. You've got to decide that yourself. But I CAN tell you that you'd better actually eat your food next time, no more sticking it down the sink. It wasn't bad, and you don't need to be fainting from hunger." He fixed Cyrus with a severe frown.

"…I'll try," Cyrus said guiltily.

"Good. Especially tomorrow. Now look, if this meeting goes the same way my first one did, you're going to have a lot of apologizing, a lot of humbling yourself to everyone, a lot of humiliation to go through.. You won't like it. It'll probably be even worse for you. You can forget about your dignity for the time being, because if you lose your temper, I'd say life in prison without parole is probably the best option." Cyrus shivered. "So if you start losing control, it'd better not be in anger. And again, make sure you don't try to lie to them or withhold anything. Got it?" The tall man nodded. "All right," Saturn said in a gentler voice. "Think about what you'd like to do with your life, that's probably the best you can do for now." He smiled as he stood up. "I'll find you again for dinner. And I'll be in my office if you want me." Cyrus nodded, and watched once more as Saturn left. His head sank back to his hands.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"So… what are you gonna say?" Mars asked her friend softly. They were sitting in the deep woods south of Veilstone.

"It looks like Saturn's convinced Cyrus to tell them everything," muttered Jupiter. She'd done some convincing of her own, and Dione had eventually conceded to letting them view the kitchen security camera. The receptionist hadn't been happy. "…So it looks like we'll have to do the same."

Mars frowned and shifted uncomfortably.

"But Saturn's right about one thing. What they really want to know is what we plan to do with the future."

Mars nodded slowly. "Team Galactic… is really dead, then," she murmured, her eyes slipping out of focus.

Jupiter nodded morosely. They sat in silence for a moment.

"What… DO you plan to do?" Mars asked finally.

"I'm not sure," Jupiter admitted. "I… though I might try a contest or two…" She was blushing slightly.

"Oh, you so should! You'd be great! Your Pokemon are already awesome, you just need a dress -"

"I… have a few," the taller woman mumbled, growing a bit redder.

"Well that's perfect, then!" Mars said, grinning. "Honestly, I don't see why you didn't do it earlier."

"I used to talk about it," Jupiter offered. "When I was a grunt. But one of the commanders, Venus, said contests were for the beautiful and the talented. Not for me." She made a face.

"What?" exclaimed Mars. "You ARE beautiful and talented! Way more than her! I remember Venus, she was just a complete bitch."

"She was," agreed Jupiter. "I hated her." They were silent again for a moment. "Do you have any plans?" the purple-haired commander asked.

"I… don't know," Mars said nervously. "Do you… have any ideas?"

"Hm…" Jupiter regarded Mars thoughtfully. "Something with a lot of people. And something exciting, you don't want to get bored." She paused. "I bet Saturn would let you stay. If you wanted to."

Mars flashed Jupiter a look of hope and reluctance. "What would I do there, though? He's not about to let anyone else horn in on him running the show, and he doesn't have any commanders… And if he did, it'd probably be that one grunt." She shrugged hopelessly. "I don't know. I guess… Oh, hey! I could see if I could go back to Jubilife TV again!"

"I could see you doing that," Jupiter said. "As a reporter, maybe?"

"Yeah, probably," Mars replied. Then she grinned. "And I'll report on all your contests and get exclusive interviews with you, and I could show whatever Saturn's doing… What do you think he'll do?"

"I don't really know," said Jupiter with a shrug, lying back in the grass. "He didn't seem like he was really sure either. But he'd better decide fast."

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Cynthia took a breath and made sure her face was expressionless as she looked up from her notes. The elite four sat around her on a raised dais in the round room, the gym leaders and a few others were in the seats at the opposite end of the room, and at the long table in the middle sat Jupiter, Mars, Cyrus, Saturn, and Tethys. Bertha and Flint seemed curious, Aaron looked uncertain, and Lucian was calm. He'd confirmed Cyrus's story, as had Saturn and Tethys, who looked terrified to speak directly to her.

"And Professor Rowan, can you attest to the truth here?" she asked. There was a faint murmur among the gym leaders, as if now they'd get to the bottom of this. She saw Saturn sit up straighter and nudge Cyrus, who shied away a bit but seemed more attentive.

"Unfortunately, I can," the older man said, rising to his feet. "It was an incredible research opportunity, but I never realized the mad scale of his ambition. He will not stop until the world is destroyed."

"Is that true?" Cynthia asked, her eyes locked with Cyrus's.

"It… was, yes," he said with some difficulty.

Rowan started, but recovered quickly. "You see? Pure insanity! Obviously not in his right mind, but that does not make him any less of a criminal."

"You said it WAS true?" Cynthia asked, ignoring Rowan for the moment.

"Yes. It was." Cyrus's eyes darted around before resting on the champion again. "I… was wrong."

"It seems you were wrong until very recently, then," Cynthia said. "You told Lucian that you planned to use Arceus itself for this purpose?"

Cyrus looked down. "The Pokemon… Weity… altered my mental state. As I'm sure is obvious. I was in a state of instability, and the quest I had been pursuing for so long was all I had to cling to. But… I was wrong."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. Saturn was smiling encouragingly. Lucian's Alakazam raised a spoon slightly from the far side of the room.

"And would you say that state of instability has passed?" the blond woman asked.

Cyrus risked a fleeting glance at Saturn. "No. It is… improving. But it will take far more time to pass entirely."

"Time in which to find other Pokemon to exploit?" Rowan snapped.

Saturn's head whipped around. "The way you did, you mean?" he shot back.

"Saturn," Cynthia said sharply.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I have some relevant things to say on the topic of exploitation. May I?"

Cynthia frowned, but nodded after a moment. "This had better be useful, though."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of wasting your time." The blue-haired man turned back to Rowan. "Tell me, how did Lucan react when you told him what happened to his Mespirit, Uxie, and Azelf? Or how they came to leave him? How you knowingly took his Pokemon for the sake of an experiment, when he entrusted them to your care? I notice he's not here today."

"He's on a trip to Stark Mountain," Rowan said irritably. "And he was upset, of course, but he was glad the Pokemon was happier. And relieved to hear that no others would be treated in such a way." He frowned at Cyrus, who frowned right back.

Saturn's eyebrows rose. "Really? Are you saying that you wouldn't work with Cyrus again?"

"Of course not, after all I've seen and heard," said the professor, gesturing to the tall man.

Saturn smiled, and noticed the Alakazam at the back of the room lower a spoon. He turned back to Cynthia. "May I show you an interesting letter delivered to the Galactic Veilstone Building on Friday?"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Cyrus couldn't sit still. After extensive questioning of Rowan and of himself, the elites had been involved in their own heated discussion for the past twenty minutes. Professor Rowan looked mortified.

"Unless Rowan can fabricate a reply in the next few seconds, it looks like he's the one taking a lot of the blame for this," Saturn said brightly. "It won't be too bad for you. And they caught him lying when you weren't. Even better!"

"But… will that be enough?" Cyrus asked, watching Flint and Bertha arguing.

"I don't know," Saturn confessed. "And I'm not even sure what it needs to be enough for."

Cyrus shook his head. Cynthia was quieting the others down.

"I think we need some more information before we make a decision. Cyrus, tell us what you'd like to do with your future, will you?"

The tall man stood slowly. "At this point, I doubt that it is in my hands."

The champion smiled. "Humor me, will you? If you could do anything, what would you do?"

"I have nothing concrete, only a few ideas," Cyrus began. "I would like to return to my hometown. Sunnyshore. Though I doubt that there remains anything there for me. I would also like to travel, especially to Canalave and Celestic. I… thought I could put together a more in-depth collection of Sinnoh's myths and legends. I've always been interested in the stories. Maybe I could even learn the legends of other regions, and travel to see them some day." He looked up at them, as if conflicted, then glanced down at Saturn. "…And I'd like to stop by Veilstone now and then, too." The shorter man smiled.

Cynthia regarded him pensively before turning to nod at Aaron. The bug trainer stood up.

"What makes you think you deserve to do any of that, and not rot in a cell for the rest of eternity?" he asked nastily.

Cyrus's eyes flew to him. Panic and anger flashed across his face. Fear won in the end. He dropped his head and seemed to shrink down. "I… I probably don't," he murmured.

Cynthia gave a satisfied nod. "Thank you. Sit down, please. Saturn?" He stood. "There are no other claims to the Galactic Corporation, and we wouldn't recognize them if there were. I would say it's now unquestionably yours. What do you plan to do with it? I think you've had ample time to think this over by now."

"I think I'll have to sell off both buildings," Saturn said slowly. "Even the one is too much for us to maintain. And I'd like to stay in Veilstone. I was actually hoping to talk with Volkner, though, and if he has time I'd like some help in setting up some solar panel roads similar to the ones Sunnyshore has."

The electric gym leader perked up. "Sure, I'd be up for that."

"It would give you both something productive to do," said Cynthia, smiling at Volkner teasingly.

"Yeah, just what you need!" Flint added with a laugh.

"And Mars and Jupiter?" Cynthia asked, turning back to the long center table. The two looked at each other, and Mars stood up first.

"Well I'd like to go back to the TV station," she said. "I liked it a lot. As a reporter this time, though. If that's okay." She glanced around.

"Cynthia nodded. "That would be excellent. You'll have to see if they have any reporting positions open, of course."

"Oh, yeah! Of course!" Mars said, and quickly sat down.

Jupiter stood slowly. "I thought I would try my hand at contests," she said quietly. "I've always wanted to. And maybe…" she glanced over at Lucian, then quickly back to Cynthia. "Maybe I'll see how far I can get battling, and challenge the League."

Lucian's eyebrows rose in surprise. He looked back at his Alakazam, and something seemed to pass between them.

"I'm sure we'll all look forward to seeing you," said Cynthia, with an almost warm smile. "You, Mars and Saturn may go about your business when you leave today. Mars and Jupiter, you'll need to check in with your towns' gym leaders regularly. Mars, that will be Roark for you, and Jupiter, Fantina, of course. Probably just once a week to once a month, but you'll have to discuss that together. Saturn, I'm sure you'd be welcome to keep visiting Maylene for a battle whenever you want, but you're no longer under any obligation to do so."

Saturn stared openly. "You'd… trust me?" he asked cautiously.

"I told you you'd have to earn it. And I think you have." She smiled as Tethys hugged his arm in excitement. The blue-haired man scarcely seemed to notice. A grin had spread over his face.

"…And Cyrus," the champion continued, her smile dropping. "We'll need to discuss you a bit more. I hope you don't mind waiting."

Cyrus shook his head mutely.


	10. Epilogue ish!

Notes: Well, here it is. The end. I feel it's a bit of a letdown. Not that I exactly don't like it, but it's rather lacking in the action and drama I've so enjoyed. I hope the ending's not too abrupt. It was either that, or drag it out forever. I tried to ease into it at least a bit! And I feel like this whole thing is awkward. That's only partially intentional. It doesn't flow well, and the ending is cheesy at best. Blah. I realize how disappointing this is.

If you have the patience, I still have a Jupiter fic running through my head that I may get to some day. We shall see!

I only own the grunts here. Sorry! Nothing else.

…

**For the Good of the Team - Epilogue**

…

"Hey Mimas," Saturn called. The scientist came over, looking irritated as usual.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you think you could maybe… send your friend there inside or something?" the blue-haired man asked, gesturing at the grunt with faded green hair who was turning a panel over in his hands. "He's almost dropped that twice, and I'm sure we could go twice as fast if we weren't all trying to make sure nothing gets broken."

Mimas smiled grimly. "You told him he could help. I warned you, didn't I?"

"You did," Saturn sighed. "And anyone can see that he means well, but it's like asking Dione to carry a tune."

"…Or asking Tethys to cook?" Mimas snorted.

"He's not… quite this bad," Saturn said, flinching as the grunt tried to hand the panel to Volkner and dropped it. The gym leader just barely caught it.

"Don't be so polite next time. He can take more than he lets on," the scientist said. He raised his voice. "Kore! Go give the lab Pokemon some exercise and quit picking up breakable things!"

Kore turned. "Sorry!" he called. He said something to Volkner, who laughed and waved him away. Saturn strolled over as the grunt ran off.

"This place is almost as good as Sunnyshore for building elevated roads," the blond man said cheerfully. "Sun's not as strong, but it should make enough power to help out a lot with electricity bills around here."

"I really appreciate your help here," Saturn said. "I needed something to do, and I would've had no idea where to begin."

"Hey, I totally get it," said the taller man. "I'm always looking for new projects. Flint likes to try to keep me in the gym, but I just get bored."

"Speaking of your gym, have you heard from Cyrus lately?" Saturn asked.

"Oh yeah, I call or stop by every day. I have to, even with that Alakazam following him around. He asks about you all the time. You should go see him some time!" Volkner grinned. "But he's good. Maybe a little better than me, even. Last I heard, nobody's managed to beat him. In a month. That's pretty incredible, I'd say."

"Does he seem… happy?" the shorter man asked. Cyrus happy was a stretch of the imagination that Saturn wasn't sure he could managed.

"I don't know about happy." Volkner shrugged. "But he looks better than he did at the League. Most of the time, anyway."

"That's good," Saturn said. "I've only talked to him on the phone a few times. And I get the feeling he hates phones. I'd definitely like to visit some day soon."

Volkner carefully set the panel he was holding into a steel frame. "Why don't you, then?"

Saturn blinked, then smiled apologetically. "…I guess I'm still getting used to this freedom of movement thing."

"Didn't stop you when you went to find him before, did it? Besides, now's the perfect time to practice. Go on over, I know he'd love to see you."

"You're sure it's all right? I know there's a lot to do."

"No offense, but you know I can do it better than you can." Volkner grinned good-naturedly. "Don't worry about it, just go."

"Okay," Saturn said cautiously. "Let me just go tell the others." He made his way over to the old Team Galactic warehouse, which had become a decent place to live and work with a few walls knocked out and some major renovations. All the warp panels had been shut down.

"Hey," he said as he walked in. Dione looked up from the computer. "Getting much done in here?"

"I'm almost finished," she said. "The website's looking good. I'll take some pictures for it later."

"Great. I'm going over to Sunnyshore to see Cyrus, in case anyone comes looking for me."

"Okay," said Dione. "Oh, you should visit the beach while you're there. Volkner said this pretty gym leader from Johto's been hanging out there."

The two looked at each other. "Dione," Saturn said carefully. "Is this along the same lines as your attempts to set me up with Gardenia?" It had been one of the most awkward days of his life. He'd gone to talk to the Grass gym leader about selling the Eterna headquarters. Dione had asked to come, and had kept up a constant stream of advice for picking up women. The entire time they were in town. Saturn finally had to send her off to the Global Trade Station.

"I'm just saying, it's something to think about. You might like her, I hear she's nice," said Dione hopefully. "You'll never get any younger, you know? So now's the time to start looking."

Saturn frowned. "I'll never get any younger? I'm only two years older than you!"

"Two and a half," she corrected with a smile.

The blue-haired man shook his head. "I appreciate your… concern… for my romantic endeavors -"

"- Or lack thereof," she added helpfully.

"…Right. But I'm just fine, thanks. And I'll be in Sunnyshore." He started to leave, but called over his shoulder from the door, "Why don't you find yourself a boyfriend? Would that get you to leave me alone?"

"Maybe!" she said cheerfully. "But probably not!"

Saturn sighed as he released the Staraptor they kept for Flying journeys. The flight to Sunnyshore was quick, and he was soon walking along the raised paths towards the gym. As he glanced down at the beach, he did indeed see a girl there, looking out towards the ocean. He stepped into the gym and looked around.

"I'm just here to visit, not to battle," he said to the man leaning against one of the two statues in the front room. "Is there a quick way? Or a back door?"

"Sorry," the man said shortly. "Volkner didn't build this place for cheaters. But he's in Veilstone, and his replacement's out at the lighthouse, last I heard."

Saturn thanked the man and left, frowning as he wondered whether the man ever came out of the gym. It didn't seem likely. He made his way across town, glancing at the huge Munchlax-shaped rock as he went. The elevator ride to the top was quick, and silence hung in the air as Saturn stepped out.

Cyrus stood facing the wall of glass at the back of the lighthouse. A large Alakazam looked up at his approach. The tall man turned in surprise, and his former commander offered a lopsided smile.

"Quite a city you live in these days," he said.

Cyrus's eyes lit up at the sight of Saturn, though the rest of his face didn't change. "I take it you are not here to earn a gym badge?"

"No. I just wanted to visit, and Volkner told me to come. How are you liking being a gym leader?"

"I was warned that it would be boring," said Cyrus. "It is. I hope he finishes his work in Veilstone soon so that I can begin mine."

"It… should be about five more months," Saturn said apologetically.

Cyrus stared out to sea morosely.

"Is Sunnyshore anything like you remember?" Saturn asked quietly.

Cyrus's face changed, though the odd grimace couldn't quite be called a smile or a frown. "Yes. Very much so," he replied.

"Do you hear from Jupiter or Mars much?" the shorter man asked.

"Now and then," Cyrus said shortly. "If I know they will be on television, I watch."

"Me too," said Saturn. "Jupiter's really good in the contests. I figured she would be. But I think Mars expected more interesting assignments than that report on the slight increase in Wingull population south of Sandgem she gave the other day."

"I'm sure she will grow more accustomed to it," Cyrus said distantly, watching a Finneon leap out of the water.

"…Are you doing okay here?" Saturn asked softly after a moment.

"Yes," Cyrus said, almost mechanically, then he turned to Saturn hesitantly. It looked like he might be attempting to smile, but not many others would have recognized the expression. It may have been something else entirely. "But no one else cooks potatoes quite like you."

Saturn raised an eyebrow, then started to laugh. "That's probably a good thing! I'd hate to think you had to live on that all this time!"

Cyrus's face melted into a frown. "That is not what I meant. You -"

"No, no, I was joking," Saturn assured him. "I thought that's what you were trying to do."

"I… was." Cyrus shifted uncomfortably.

Saturn looked at him uncertainly, then smiled. The older man didn't seem to have lost any visible weight, so he must have been eating for the past month. "Good. How's that working out?" He gestured towards the Alakazam.

"It is less of a nuisance than I expected," Cyrus admitted.

"That's good to hear. Rowan's got one too, I hear he thinks it gets in the way."

"I suspect he has more to do than I," said Cyrus a bit resentfully.

"Probably," agreed Saturn. "But you could find things. Every town's got legends. I'm sure if you ask around, people will tell you. You could start your project here."

Cyrus brightened up a little.

"And that girl at the beach is a gym leader from Johto, or so Dione tells me. And she seems to know everything that goes on anywhere in Sinnoh. I'll get she's got some interesting stories from there."

Cyrus's face fell. "She seemed frightened of me when I saw her yesterday. So do… a number of people."

"You're not…" Saturn looked the tall man up and down. "Well, you're not THAT scary. But I know that's what people will think."

"I believe they would rather see a rampaging Machamp in a dark alley than see me walking across town," Cyrus said glumly.

"Then convince them you're not that bad. You're not doing anything wrong. Try talking to them," Saturn advised. "Once you get past the initial reaction, things will get easier. Probably the worst thing you can do is hide out in the gym or in here, and never let people see you. I did that at first. Talking to people's a lot harder, especially when they have a good reason to blame you for the wrongs of the world, but it's much better in the long run, trust me."

Cyrus watched him for a moment before nodding doubtfully.

Saturn grinned. "…And I hear you're amazing at the gym. That should earn you some popularity points."

"Perhaps," Cyrus said, though he didn't really seem convinced. "How are things in Veilstone?"

"They're going well. We made the warehouse into a smaller headquarters, and we've been working on the solar roads. They really seem to work well here."

Cyrus nodded. He seemed to want to say something.

"Do you miss it?" Saturn guessed quietly.

Cyrus nodded again slowly, and looked out towards the Munchlax rock. "Certain parts. Yes." His eyes flicked to Saturn for a moment.

"You know, we've still got plenty of extra room," the ex-commander said. "When you're done filling in for Volkner, you could stay with us for a while."

"I would… like that," the tall man said, with visible effort. "For a while."

The two men stood in silence for a while. A flock of Wingull flew by. The elevator dinged behind them.

"Hey!" a girl's voice called. "Is the gym leader up here?"

Cyrus turned slowly. The young girl took a step back, then glared and took two steps forward.

"Are you the gym leader?" she asked.

"I am," Cyrus replied flatly. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, you can! I challenge you to an official gym battle!" She pointed up at his face, then glared at Saturn, who was stifling a laugh. "And your friend there can shut up, unless he wants to face my Pokemon too!"

Cyrus appeared shocked to his core. Saturn managed to stop laughing long enough to nudge Cyrus. The taller man jumped away, his eyes darting from the girl to Saturn. Finally, he turned back to her.

"…Very well. Please allow me a moment to… prepare."

The trainer rolled her eyes and stomped back to the elevator. It took her down quickly.

"I guess not everybody's afraid of you," Saturn said, smiling in amusement. "Mind if I go with you as far as the gym door?"

The older man shook his head silently, and they stepped into the elevator. Neither spoke as they rode down, or as they walked through town. Saturn smiled politely at the citizens of Sunnyshore. Cyrus regarded them with mutual trepidation.

"Next time I'd love to see a gym battle," said Saturn as they stopped at the gym door.

"When will you be back?" Cyrus asked with hesitant eagerness.

"I don't know… Probably whenever you want." Saturn grinned, savoring his freedom. "…But not too often, I do have work to do."

"Of course. Perhaps… once a week?" Cyrus asked hopefully. "Is that… too much?"

"Probably not. I'll try, anyway. I'll give you a call if I can't. And I'll see if Jupiter or Mars can come sometimes, too."

"All right." Cyrus looked like he was really trying to smile this time, with even more success. Or possibly he could have been about to cry. But when no tears followed, Saturn decided it had to be some attempt at a smile. "I'll look forward to it."

"So will I!" said the shorter man. "So… if everything works out, I'll see you in a week?"

Cyrus nodded, almost enthusiastically. Then he hesitated. "And… Saturn… Thank you."

"You're welcome," Saturn replied with a smile. "I'm really glad it worked out for everyone. Good luck in your battle," he added, when Cyrus made no move to go inside.

The tall man blinked. "Oh. Thank you. Until next week, then." He reluctantly backed through the door.

Saturn turned to leave as well, and waved over his shoulder. Cyrus awkwardly returned the gesture.

At the edge of town, Saturn released his Staraptor. "Let's stop by the Valor Lakefront Hotel first," he said, patting the large bird. "This is a good day for real food, and they have some good stuff. Can you carry enough for all of us?"

"Raptorrrr."

"Great! Let's go, then!" Saturn grabbed on as the Pokemon took off. There really wasn't any need to fly at all, but he liked to give the bird a chance to stretch his wings.

There was a small TV on the counter where Saturn placed his order. The sound was muted, but Saturn was pleased to see a triumphant Mars reporting on a coordinator fund raiser. Jupiter sat just a few chairs away from Fantina, in a stunning pale red gown. Saturn realized that he'd never recognized how beautiful his friend could be before. He also realized that if he ever shared that thought, he was likely to be hit. Jupiter was blushing slightly, and smiling. As Saturn took his bags of food, the camera panned the audience, and he was surprised to see Lucian clapping in the front row.

"Interesting," he commented as he released Staraptor again. "I'll have to go see her next contest. Very interesting. Hm." He looked at the big bags of takeout boxes. "Do you think you can carry these in your claws?

"Starrr," the big Pokemon confirmed.

"Good." Saturn set them down and held on again as the bird launched into the air and back winged to grab the bags. The plastic whipped wildly in the wind as they flew off towards their city. Their home.


End file.
